POLYMER COATED NANOPARTICLES
A magnetic nanoparticle suitable for imaging a geological structure having one or more magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with a polymer grafted to the surface to form a magnetic nanoparticle, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle displays a colloidal stability under harsh salinity conditions or in a standard API brine.
The present disclosure relates generally to methods and compositions used in imaging of geological structures and more specifically to subsurface reservoir imaging under high salinity and/or temperatures conditions using polymer-grafted nanoparticles.
BACKGROUND ARTWithout limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods and compositions used in imaging of geological structures. Geological structures have been characterized using electromagnetic methods; however, the majority of these methods have not utilized injected magnetic materials and have typically relied upon the low conductivity and permittivity of petroleum compared to brine, which is usually found concurrently with petroleum in geological structures. In addition, when injected magnetic materials have been used, the high salinities and elevated temperatures of the subsurface reservoirs result in aggregation of the magnetic materials and their adsorption (i.e., the adhesion of atoms, ions, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface) on mineral surfaces in the subsurface reservoirs. Although, polymer stabilizers have been used they have not provided sufficient electrostatic repulsion and/or are ineffective under the conditions present in the subsurface reservoirs. For example, U.S. Patent Publication Number 2009/0179649, entitled “Methods for Magnetic Imaging of Geological Structures,” discloses methods for imaging geological structures including injecting magnetic materials into the geological structures, placing at least one magnetic probe in a proximity to the geological structures, generating a magnetic field in the geological structures, and detecting a magnetic signal. At least one magnetic probe may be on the surface of the geological structures or reside within the geological structures. The methods also include injecting magnetic materials into the geological structures, placing at least one magnetic detector in the geological structures, and measuring a resonant frequency in at least one magnetic detector. Methods for using magnetic materials in dipole-dipole, dipole-loop and loop-loop transmitter-receiver configurations for geological structure electromagnetic imaging techniques are also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,271, entitled “Method for Determining Pore Size Distribution and Fluid Distribution in Porous Media,” discloses determining the pore size distribution and the distribution of fluid in a porous media, such as a reservoir rock formation, by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry techniques. A sequence of three radio frequency pulses is applied to a sample which is placed in a large static magnetic field, and the resultant spin echo is measured and utilized to determine the pore size distribution in the porous media. If water is present in the sample, the sample is doped so as to substantially eliminate the nuclear magnetic resonance response of the hydrogen in water. The technique can be utilized to distinguish between hydrocarbon filled and water filled pores in the sample, thus providing information concerning the fluid distribution in the sample.
DISCLOSURE OF ASPECTS OF THE INVENTIONIn this disclosure, standard American Petroleum Institute brine (“standard API brine”) is composed of 8% wt. NaCl+2% wt. CaCl2.
The present disclosure provides a method for assaying a geological structure comprising: injecting a magnetic nanoparticle dispersion into the geological structure wherein the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion comprises one or more magnetic nanoparticles, wherein one or more polymers are grafted to at least a surface of the one or more magnetic nanoparticles to form the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion that maintains a colloidal stability in the geological structure for a period of at least several days; generating a magnetic field in the geological structure with a magnetic probe; and detecting a magnetic signal produced from an interaction of the magnetic field and the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion injected into the geological structure.
The one or more magnetic nanoparticles comprise a magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle, a magnetic metal nanoparticle, or both. The magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle includes iron oxide. The geological structure may be a deposit selected from the group consisting of oil, gas, and combinations thereof. The magnetic nanoparticle dispersion is suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability in an environment comprising a standard API brine. The colloidal stability may be for about 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks, 11 weeks, 12 weeks, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, 15 weeks, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, or more. The one or more magnetic nanoparticles may be iron oxide, iron, cobalt, magnetite, hematite, ferrites selected from nickel ferrite, aluminum ferrite, manganese ferrite, zinc ferrite, and cobalt ferrite, or combinations thereof. The one or more magnetic nanoparticles may be one or more amine-functional groups. The one or more polymers may be a random copolymer, wherein one member of the random copolymer is an acrylic acid monomer. The one or more polymers comprise a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group. The anchoring group may be selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate and N-acryloylalanine, and a combination thereof. The stabilizing group may be selected from the group consisting of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, and 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate. The ratio of the stabilizing group to the anchoring group may be between about 14% and 95%. The one or more polymers may include a first monomer comprising a sulfonate group and a second monomer comprising an acrylate group. The one or more polymers may include a poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer. The poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer has a ratio of about 3:1 of 2-acrylanmido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid to acrylic acid groups.
A composite suitable for imaging a geological structure comprising: one or more magnetic nanoparticles with a polymer grafted to a magnetic nanoparticle surfaces to form magnetic nanoparticle composites suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability in an environment comprising a standard API brine. The one or more magnetic nanoparticles may include a magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle, a magnetic metal nanoparticle, or both. The magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle comprises iron oxide. The environment may include a temperature from between 20° C. and 200° C. The maintaining of the colloidal stability is for about 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks, 11 weeks, 12 weeks, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, 15 weeks, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, or more. The one or more magnetic nanoparticles may be selected from the group consisting of iron oxide, iron, cobalt, magnetite, hematite, ferrites selected from nickel ferrite, aluminum ferrite, manganese ferrite, zinc ferrite, and cobalt ferrite, and combinations thereof. The one or more magnetic metal nanoparticles may include one or more amine-functional groups. The polymer may include a random copolymer, wherein one member of the random copolymer is an acrylic acid monomer. The polymer may include a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group. The anchoring group may be selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate and N-acryloylalanine, and a combination thereof. The stabilizing group may be selected from the group consisting of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, and 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate. The ratio of the stabilizing group to the anchoring group may be between about 14% and 95%. The polymer may be a poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer. The poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer may have a ratio of about 3:1 of 2-acrylanmido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid to acrylic acid groups. The one or more of magnetic metal nanoparticles and the polymer may be connected by a covalent bond.
A method of making a composite suitable for imaging a geological structure comprising functionalizing one or more magnetic nanoparticles with an amine functional group; grafting a polymer to surfaces of the one or more magnetic nanoparticles to form one or more magnetic nanoparticle composites that exhibit colloidal stability in standard API brine, wherein the polymer comprises a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group.
The second monomer may include a sulfonate group and the first monomer comprises an acrylate group. The anchoring group may include acrylic acid. The stabilizing group may include 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate. The polymer may be a poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid polymer. The poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid polymer may has a ratio of about 3:1. The grafting may further include an acid catalyzed heat driven amidation between the polymer and the plurality of magnetic metal nanoparticles. The grafting further may include forming multiple amide bonds via a condensation reaction between carboxylate groups on the polymer and amine groups on the surfaces of the plurality of magnetic metal nanoparticles, catalyzed by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide. The grafting may further include coating acrylic acid to the plurality of amine-functionalized magnetic metal nanoparticles; and performing free radical polymerization of a solution of AMPS monomer and the amine-functionalized magnetic metal nanoparticles coated with the acrylic acid.
Aspects of the present invention provide nanoparticles that can be transported through the harsh salinity and temperatures encountered in subsurface reservoirs to therefore have a major impact on enhanced oil recovery, carbon-dioxide sequestration, and environmental remediation. For example, an aspect of the present invention provides a steric stabilization of iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”) grafted with poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid or PAMPS-PAA), which not only display colloidal stability in standard API brine at 90° C. for 1 month, but also showed minimal undesirable adsorption on silica surfaces (0.4% monolayer NPs) in standard API brine.
Such stabilization was made possible by the low Ca2+ affinity of the PAMPS groups that maintain solvation of PAMPS-PAA copolymer in standard API brine at 90° C. in spite of the well-known precipitation of PAA groups in the presence Ca2+. The PAA groups, on the other hand, enabled robust attachment of PAMPS-PAA chains to amine-functionalized IO NPs by formation of multiple amide bonds per the PAMPS-PAA chain that maintained stability even after a 40,000 fold dilution. This approach can be readily adapted to stabilize a variety of other inorganic and organic NPs in environments exhibiting high salinity and temperatures.
According to aspects of the present invention, a series of sulfonated random and block copolymers were adsorbed on the surfaces of ˜100 nm iron oxide (“IO”) nanoclusters to provide colloidal stability in extremely concentrated brine composed of standard API brine at 90° C. A combinatorial materials chemistry approach, which employed Ca2+-mediated adsorption of anionic acrylic acid-containing sulfonated polymers to pre-formed citrate-stabilized iron oxide (“IO”) nanoclusters, enabled the investigation of a large number of polymer coatings. Initially, a series of poly(2-methyl-2-acrylamidopropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (“PAMPS-PAA”) (1:8 to 1:1 mol.:mol.), poly(styrenesulfonate-block-acrylic acid) (2.4:1 mol.:mol.), and poly(styrenesulfonate-alt-maleic acid) (3:1 mol.:mol.) copolymers were screened for solubility in standard API brine at 90° C. The ratio of 2-acrylanmido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (“AMPS”) to acrylic acid (“AA”) groups was varied to balance the requirement of colloid dispersibility at high salinity (provided by AMPS) against the need for anchoring of the polymers to the iron oxide surface (via the AA). IO NPs coated with PAMPS-PAA (1:1 mol.:mol.) exhibited colloidal stability in standard API brine at room temperature and 90° C., for up to one month. The particles were characterized before and after coating at ambient and elevated temperatures by a variety of techniques including colloidal stability experiments, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, and thermogravimetric analysis.
Aspects of the present invention provide nanoparticles that are designed for colloidal stability and transport through a medium. Stable magnetic particle dispersions at high salinity with inexpensive polymers (e.g., sulfonated polymers) form colloidal dispersions to facilitate injection and transport through porous media, where one mechanism is electrosteric stabilization. Nanoparticles according to aspects of the present invention may be used to optimize polymer molecular weight (“MW”) and coating thickness (e.g., hydrodynamic diameters 3 to 10 nm) to reduce cost, but yet provide sufficient colloid stabilization. The permanent attachment of stabilizer to particle surface at dilute reservoir conditions with a general combinatorial materials technique as disclosed herein is applicable to a wide range of particles. Aspects of the present invention provide for the prevention of stabilizer desorption from the particles surface by chemical crosslinking of the stabilizer to fix it in place. Aspects of the present invention also provide for the covalent grafting of polymers to functionalized nanoparticles and nanoparticles that have very low adsorption on anionic rock surfaces (e.g., negative charge on sulfonates, carboxylates) even at high salinities, including standard API brine. Aspects of the present invention also provide for tuning of magnetic nanoparticle adsorption on rock surfaces via the composition of the surface coating to facilitate imaging of the rock wettability (wettability describes the preference of a solid (e.g., rock or mineral surfaces) to be in contact with one fluid rather than another (e.g., either oil or water); see, e.g., W. Abdallah et al., “Fundamentals of Wettability,” Oilfield Review, Summer 2007, pages 44-61, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein).
Aspects of the present invention provide magnetic nanoparticle composites for imaging a geological structure having a plurality of magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with polymers grafted to the surfaces of the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to form magnetic nanoparticle composites suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability in a harsh salinity environment within the geological structure or in standard API brine.
The magnetic nanoparticle composites are further suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability under harsh temperature conditions in the geological structure from between 20° C. and 200° C. and/or the colloidal stability may be maintained for about 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks, 11 weeks, 12 weeks, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, 15 weeks, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years or more.
The one or more magnetic nanoparticle composites may comprise iron oxide, iron, cobalt, magnetite, hematite, ferrites selected from nickel ferrite, aluminum ferrite, manganese ferrite, zinc ferrite, and cobalt ferrite, and combinations thereof and may include one or more functional groups. The one or more magnetic nanoparticle composites may include one or more amine-functional groups.
The polymer grafted to the magnetic nanoparticles may be a random copolymer, wherein a member of the random copolymer is an acrylic acid monomer. The polymer may be a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group. For example, the anchoring group may be acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate, and/or N-acryloylalanine, or a combination thereof. The stabilizing group may be 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, and/or 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate, or a combination thereof. The polymer may have between 200 to 3000 repeat units of the anchoring group and/or the stabilizing group. The ratio of the stabilizing group to the anchoring group may be between about 14% and 95%. The polymer may include a first monomer comprising a sulfonate group and a second monomer comprising an acrylate group. The polymer may have a degree of polymerization of between about 500 and 3000. For example, the polymer may be a poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer. The poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer may have a ratio of about 3:1. The magnetic nanoparticles and the polymer may be connected by a covalent bond (e.g., an amide bond).
Aspects of the present invention provide a method of making magnetic nanoparticle composites for imaging a geological structure by forming magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles; functionalizing the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with one or more amine functional groups; providing a polymer comprising a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group of one or more acrylic acid monomers; and forming covalent bonds (e.g., amide bonds) between the polymer and the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to graft the polymer to the surfaces of the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to form the magnetic nanoparticle composites suitable for maintaining colloidal stability under a harsh salinity environment of the geological structure or in a standard American Petroleum Institute brine.
The magnetic nanoparticle may also be suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability under high temperature conditions. The first monomer may be a sulfonate group and the second monomer may be an acrylate group. The method of making the magnetic nanoparticle composites may also comprise forming a random copolymer from the first monomer having an anchoring group and the second monomer having a stabilizing group. The anchoring group may be acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate, and/or N-acryloylalanine, or a combination thereof. The stabilizing group may be 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, and/or 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate, or a combination thereof. The polymer may have between 200 to 3000 repeat units of the anchoring group and/or the stabilizing group. The ratio of the stabilizing group to the anchoring group may comprise between about 14% and 95%. The polymer may have a degree of polymerization of between about 500 and 3000. The polymer may be a poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer. The poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer may include a ratio of about 3:1.
Aspects of the present invention provide a method for assaying a geological structure by providing magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with a polymer grafted to surfaces of the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to form magnetic nanoparticle composites; combining the magnetic nanoparticle composites with a fluid to form a magnetic nanoparticle dispersion, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion is suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability under harsh salinity conditions within the geological structure or in a standard API brine; injecting the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion into the geological structure; placing at least one magnetic probe in a proximity to the geological structure; generating a magnetic field within the geological structure with the at least one magnetic probe; and detecting a magnetic signal resulting from the magnetic field generated within the geological structure.
The geological structure may comprise a deposit selected from the group consisting of oil, gas, and combinations thereof. The geological structure may be penetrated by at least one vertical wellbore, at least one horizontal wellbore, or a combination thereof. The magnetic nanoparticle dispersion may migrate from the injection site into the geological structure up to 2 m, 5 m, 10 m, 20 m, 50 m, 100 m, 150 m, 200 m, 250 m, 300 m, 350 m, 400 m, 450 m, 500 m, or more, or 15 cm, 30 cm, 100 cm, 1 m, or more into a core sample of a geological structure. The magnetic nanoparticle dispersion may have a retention of between 0.01 and 5 mg/m2. The magnetic nanoparticle dispersion may have a retention of about 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, or 5 mg/m2. For example, the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion may have a retention of about 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.8, 1.9, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.8, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.8, or 5.9 mg/m2, or incremental variations thereof.
Aspects of the present invention provide magnetic nanoparticle composites suitable for transport through a porous media, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle composites comprise magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with a polymer grafted to the surfaces of the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to form the magnetic nanoparticle composites, wherein the polymer comprises a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group, and wherein the magnetic nanoparticle composites are suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability under harsh salinity conditions within the porous media or within a standard API brine, and wherein the magnetic nanoparticle composites have a particle adsorption that is sufficiently low that the magnetic nanoparticle composites migrate into the porous media. The magnetic nanoparticle composites may migrate up to 2 m, 5 m, 10 m, 20 m, 50 m, 100 m, 150 m, 200 m, 250 m, 300 m, 350 m, 400 m, 450 m, 500 m, or more into the porous media, or 15 cm, 30 cm, 100 cm, 1 m, or more into a core sample of a porous media, and/or have a retention of between 0.01 and 5 mg/m2. For example, the magnetic nanoparticle composites may have a retention of about 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, or 5 mg/m2. Aspects of the present invention provide magnetic nanoparticle composites for altering the wettability of a porous media, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle composites comprise magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with a polymer grafted to the surfaces of the magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to form the magnetic nanoparticle composites, wherein the polymer comprises a first monomer comprising an anchoring group selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate, and N-acryloylalanine, or a combination thereof, wherein the polymer further comprises a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group selected from the group consisting of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propane sulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, and 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate, or a combination thereof, and wherein the magnetic nanoparticle composites have a retention of between 1 and 80 mg/m2 in the porous media.
For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of aspects of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description along with the accompanying figures and in which:
While the making and using of various aspects of the present invention are discussed herein, it should be appreciated that aspects of the present invention provide many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of ways to make and use the aspects of the present invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.
To facilitate the understanding of the aspects of the present invention, a number of terms are defined below. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention. Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in this specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the presently disclosed subject matter.
As disclosed herein, a colloid is a substance microscopically dispersed throughout another substance, i.e., a colloidal dispersion. The stability of a colloidal system is the capability of the system to remain as it is. Stability is hindered by aggregation and sedimentation phenomena, which are driven by the colloids tendency to reduce surface energy. Reducing the interfacial tension will stabilize the colloidal system by reducing this driving force. Aggregation is due to the sum of the interaction forces between particles. If attractive forces (such as van der Waals forces) prevail over the repulsive ones (such as the electrostatic ones), particles aggregate in clusters.
Electrostatic stabilization and steric stabilization are two primary mechanisms for stabilization against aggregation. Electrostatic stabilization is based on the mutual repulsion of like electrical charges. In general, different phases have different charge affinities, so that an electrical double layer forms at any interface. Small (e.g., nanoscale) particle sizes lead to enormous surface areas, and this effect is greatly amplified in colloids. In a stable colloid, the mass of a dispersed phase is so low that its buoyancy or kinetic energy is too weak to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between charged layers of the dispersing phase. Steric stabilization comprises covering the particles in polymers, which prevents the particles to get close in the range of attractive forces. A combination of the two mechanisms is also possible (electrosteric stabilization). All the above mentioned mechanisms for minimizing particle aggregation rely on the enhancement of the repulsive interaction forces. In other words, colloidal stability in a colloidal suspension requires repulsive forces between colliding particles so that they do not aggregate. See, definition of a “colloid” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloid.
Aspects of the present invention provide a copolymer-coated stabilization of magnetic nanoclusters in an environment exhibiting high ionic strength and/or high temperature. Electrosteric stabilization of copolymer-coated nanoparticles is uncommon for high monovalent salinity (up to 5 M NaCl), and rarely reported for concentrated divalent cations. However, high mono- and divalent-concentrations are routinely encountered in subsurface applications, including electromagnetic imaging and oil recovery.
Stabilization of nanoparticles at high calcium salinity, especially at high temperatures (e.g., up to 100° C.), is challenging because of the high counterion association of calcium with anionic polymer stabilizers. With a goal of identifying a suitable polymer for NP stabilization in such high calcium, high temperature conditions, a combinatorial study was conducted by coating various compositions of acrylic/sulfonic acid copolymers on platform citrate-coated iron oxide (“IO”) nanoclusters. Studies were conducted by selective choice of coating parameters (e.g., pH, concentration and type of electrolytes, temperature and polymer concentration). Based on these results, a select class of sulfonic acid copolymers was determined to provide nanoparticle stability in standard API brine for at least 3 weeks at 90° C. The disclosure herein describes electrosteric stabilization at these unusually harsh conditions. This enhanced stability enables the determination of NPs for various applications including, oil and/or gas exploration and production.
Aspects of the present invention provide adsorption of acrylic/sulfonic acid copolymer-coated iron oxide nanoclusters on silica microspheres at high divalent salinity. Minimizing the adsorption of engineered nanoparticles (“NPs”) on rock surfaces is important for feasibility of subsurface applications and/or the environmental fate of NPs. Natural subsurface reservoir brines often have high salinity, including the presence of significant divalent cations including calcium, that lead to strong NP adsorption. Identified was a class of acrylic/sulfonic acid copolymer-coated iron oxide (“IO”) nanoclusters that display enhanced colloidal stability in the presence of divalent cations. Disclosed herein is a combinatorial approach to study batch adsorption of IO coated with different polymers on silica microsphere models at various salinity and pH values. The isotherms provide the adsorption capacity and equilibrium adsorption constants for various conditions. Discovered was that a low adsorption capacity from these batch studies is an important condition for successful transport of the NPs in flow studies. Thus, in addition to providing the equilibrium adsorption capacity, the batch isotherms also save time for guiding the more laborious/expensive flow studies.
The design of metal and/or metal oxide nanoparticles that form stable colloidal suspensions in extremely concentrated brine and adsorb weakly on surfaces such as silica is of interest in controlling nanoparticle transport in porous media. As disclosed hereinafter, various copolymers containing acrylic acid and either 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate or styrenesulfonate functionalities were synthesized and coated on iron oxide nanoclusters to provide colloidal stability as well as to control the adsorption on silica in standard API brine. The nanocluster surface properties were further modified by coupling the acrylic acid groups in the copolymers with a series of diamines and triamines. The specific adsorption on colloidal silica microparticles ranged from <1 mg/m2 for highly charged hydrophilic surfaces on the iron oxide particles to 22 mg/m2 for the more hydrophobic amine-modified surfaces, corresponding to monolayer coverages from 0.2% to 11.5%, respectively. The specific adsorption (mg-IO/m2-silica), monolayer coverage, and parameters for Langmuir isotherms are compared for IO nanoclusters as a function of the properties of the copolymers on their surfaces. The adsorption of nanoparticles on substrates is of fundamental and practical interest in a wide range of fields including catalysis, environmental remediation, and sensors.
Furthermore, this fundamental knowledge of nanoparticle adsorption is of broad practical interest, in particular, for transport of inorganic nanoparticles through porous subsurface reservoirs relevant to imaging and oil recovery. Recently, there has been great interest in using nanoparticles as contrast agents and sensors in imaging of geological structures (e.g., subsurface reservoirs) of interest in oil exploration. In these reservoirs, extremely high salinities are often encountered, for example, NaCl concentrations are often >5% wt., and CaCl2 concentrations may reach 1-2% wt. or more. The extreme salinity reduces the thickness of double layers on charged particles, which weakens the electrostatic repulsion between the nanoparticles and the like-charged mineral surfaces. The weak electrostatic interactions often cause aggregation of nanoparticles (i.e., unstable suspensions) and strong nanoparticle adsorption on mineral surfaces, which would be detrimental to nanoparticle transport through the porous media in geological structures.
Most studies of nanoparticle adsorption on mineral surfaces and transport through porous media have examined salinities up to a maximum of a few hundred mM. A number of studies have investigated bare fullerene particles, the initial deposition rates of C60 fullerenes using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (“QCM-D”) in up to 100 mM NaCl or 3 mM CaCl2, and found that higher salinities caused more rapid particle deposition. Furthermore, CaCl2 induced adsorption to a greater degree than NaCl. Carboxyl-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (“SWNT”) in a column packed with quartz sand at salinities up to 55 mM KCl showed a strong increase in particle retention with salinity. C60 fullerenes with both batch and column studies on Ottawa sand and glass beads with 1 mM CaCl2 have been studied. Even at this relatively low CaCl2 concentration, relative to values often on the order of a few molar in subsurface oil reservoirs of interest in the current study, the deposition of particles increased 19 fold compared to adsorption in DI water. These batch adsorption values for C60 were in qualitative agreement of relative particle deposition levels in column studies.
The deposition of nanoparticles on mineral surfaces has been investigated for particles coated with carboxymethyl cellulose (“CMC”), poly(acrylic acid) (“PAA”), mixtures of PAA and poly(styrenesulfonate) (“PSS”), and triblock copolymers of poly(methacrylic acid) (“PMAA”), poly(methyl methacrylate) (“PMMA”), and PSS. At low ionic strength (≦200 mM ionic strength), the addition of the polymers to the bare particles in these studies were shown to decrease particle deposition on mineral surfaces in packed columns or two-dimensional (“2D”) sandpacks. Unusually high salinities were investigated using PMAA-b-PMMA-b-PSS coatings for control of iron particle transport in sandpacks and deposition on a silica QCM-D detector with up to 1 M NaCl or 40 mM CaCl2. According to Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (“DLVO”) theory, electrosteric repulsion between the particle and the substrate may be needed to mitigate particle deposition, and not just purely electrostatic repulsion.
Objectives of disclosed aspects of the present invention were to control the equilibrium adsorption of polymer-stabilized iron oxide nanoclusters on model silica microparticles in standard API brine. The composition of the polymer stabilizer was varied to achieve very low levels of nanocluster adsorption down to 1% of a monolayer for an IO concentration of ˜0.2% wt. Referring to
The materials utilized were as follows: Calcium chloride dihydrate, sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, melamine, PEG-2 diamine (1,8-Diamino-3,6-dioxaoctane), 1,6-hexanediamine, PEG-33 diamine (poly(ethylene glycol) bis(3-aminopropyl) terminated), PEG-113 diamine (item number NH2-PEG5000-NH2 commercially available from JenKem Technology), and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (“EDC”) were commercially obtained from commercial sources and used as received. PPG-6 (Jeffamine T403) and PPG-30 (Jeffamine T5000) are commercially available from Huntsman Corporation and were used as received. Monomers t-butyl acrylate (“tBA”) and styrene were purchased from commercial sources and filtered through a short plug of basic alumina to remove the 4-methoxyphenol (“MEHQ”) stabilizer and were degassed by bubbling with dry nitrogen for 15 minutes prior to use. N,N,N′,N′,N-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate, acrylic acid, potassium persulfate, and sodium metabisulfite were obtained from commercial sources and used as received. The monomer 2-amino-2-methylpropanesulfonate (“AMPS”) is commercially available from Lubrizol Corporation and was used as received. Deionized water from a Barnstead Nanopure system was used for studies.
Synthesis of poly(2-acrylamido-3-methylpropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (“PAMPS-PAA”): The PAMPS-PAA copolymers were synthesized by the following general procedure, with varying amounts of reagents given in Table 1.
A three-necked round bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar, a nitrogen inlet, and a reflux condenser was charged with an AMPS monomer, potassium persulfate, and sodium metabisulfite under an atmosphere of nitrogen. The flask was sealed with rubber septa, and deionized water that was previously degassed by bubbling with nitrogen for 30 minutes was added via a nitrogen-purged syringe or a cannula to the reaction flask, such that the concentration of monomer was 1.0 M. With constant stirring, acrylic acid was added to the reaction flask via a nitrogen-purged syringe. The flask was placed in an oil bath maintained at 80° C. and stirred at that temperature for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and the water was removed under reduced pressure. The resulting white solid was then dried under reduced pressure until a constant mass was reached.
Synthesis of poly((t-butylacrylate-co-n-butylacrylate)-b-styrene) (“PtBA-PnBA-PS”): Under an atmosphere of nitrogen, an oven-dried 50 mL Schlenk flask with a magnetic stir bar was charged with 320 mg (2.2 mmol) of copper(I) bromide. The flask was sealed with a rubber septum secured with copper wire and was evacuated and backfilled with nitrogen three times before 4.8 mL (33.3 mmol) of n-butyl acrylate and 4.9 mL (33.3 mmol) of tert-butyl acrylate were added via gas-tight syringes that had been purged with nitrogen. After one freeze-pump-thaw cycle, 0.5 mL (2.4 mmol) of N,N,N′,N′,N-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine was added via a nitrogen-purged gas-tight syringe. After a second freeze-pump-thaw cycle, 105 μL (0.72 mmol) of ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate was added via a gas-tight syringe that had been purged with nitrogen. After two more freeze-pump-thaw cycles, the reaction mixture was allowed to return to ambient temperature, and the reaction flask was backfilled with nitrogen and placed in an oil bath at 50° C. The reaction mixture was allowed to stir for 4.5 hours after which an aliquot was removed from the reaction and analyzed by gel permeation column chromatography (“GPC”) (Mn=9976, Mw/Mn=1.24) prior to addition of 5.8 mL (50.6 mmol) of styrene. After a further 18 hours of stirring at 50° C., the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, taken up into tetrahydrofuran (“THF”) and passed through a plug of neutral alumina to remove the metal/ligand catalyst system. The resulting polymer solution was concentrated under reduced pressure and purified by precipitation into a mixture of methanol and water (1/1, v/v).
Synthesis of poly((acrylic acid-co-n-butylacrylate)-b-sytrenesulfonate) (“(PAA-PBA)-b-PSS”): A 1 L round bottom flask was charged with PtBA-PnBA-PS (prepared per the process previously described) dissolved in 300 mL of chloroform. In a separate flask with a stir bar, a solution of 80 mL of acetic anhydride in 100 mL of chloroform was cooled to 0° C. Concentrated sulfuric acid (45 mL) was added dropwise, and the mixture was stirred at 0° C. for a further 10 minutes before it was added to the flask containing the polymer solution. The reaction mixture was heated to 60° C. and stirred for 16 hours, then was cooled to room temperature and slowly poured into methanol. The solution was neutralized by slow addition of 3.0 M NaOH, and the organic solvents were removed under reduced pressure. The resulting aqueous solution was loaded into dialysis tubing and dialyzed against DI water for 3 days. After dialysis, the desired polymer was isolated as an orange glassy solid by concentration and drying under reduced pressure (11.0 g, 46% yield over 2 steps).
Synthesis of citrate-stabilized iron oxide nanoclusters: Iron oxide nanoclusters were synthesized by a standard coprecipitation approach.
Polymer coating of citrate-stabilized iron oxide nanoclusters: The citrate-stabilized iron oxide nanoclusters were coated with copolymer stabilizers. Anionic copolymers were adsorbed to negatively charged iron oxide nanoparticles through the mediation of Ca2+ divalent ion bridging. A polymer solution at pH 7 and a concentrated CaCl2 solution were mixed together, and a citrate-stabilized iron oxide dispersion was added to the mixture while stirring. The reaction mixture with a final concentration of 1% iron oxide, 5% polymer, and 5% CaCl2 was heated to 90° C. under vigorous stirring. After 1 hour, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, and the polymer-coated iron oxide nanoparticles were separated and washed with DI water twice to remove excess polymer and CaCl2. Polymer coating with PSS-PMA (3:1) and (PAA-PBA)-b-PSS (1:1:2) was performed by a one-step addition during the coprecipitation of the IO.
Modification of polymer coating with amines: Amines were reacted with carboxylate functional groups in the polymer coating to form amide linkages with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (“EDC”) as the catalyst. A stock dispersion of polymer-coated iron oxide nanoparticles was diluted with DI water to reach a final concentration of 1% (w/v). A 10 mg/mL aqueous solution of EDC was then quickly injected to the dispersion of polymer-coated iron oxide nanoparticles with vigorous magnetic stirring, followed by quick addition of a 10 mg/mL aqueous solution of the modifier. The number of amines added to the solution relative to the number of carboxylate groups on the polymer ([NH2]/[COO−], by mole) was varied from 0.1% to 100% to vary the properties of the polymer coating. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for another 24 hours. The excess modifier and EDC were removed by centrifugation of the mixture at 10,000 rpm for 20 minutes and washed with DI water twice. The final dispersion was formed in DI water with probe sonication.
The total number of carboxylate groups in the polymer coating was calculated based on the weight fraction of polymer coating in dried iron oxide nanoparticles from the TGA data and the known fraction of AA in the polymer. The ratio of EDC to carboxylate groups in the monomer was chosen as unity. The various types of amine functionalized modifiers utilized are shown in
Adsorption of polymer-coated iron oxide nanoclusters on silica: A batch technique was used to measure the nanocluster adsorption on silica microparticles including 8 μm colloidal silica microspheres (see
In a glass vial, 2.0-3.5 mL of aqueous dispersion of IO nanoclusters was added to 0.2-1.0 g silica. The initial concentration of iron oxide ranged from 0.005% to 0.2% w/v. To control the pH in VYDAC® silica studies, additional NaOH solution was added directly to the silica prior to adding the nanocluster dispersion. The glass vials were sealed and shaken overnight on a LW Scientific Model 2100A Lab Rotator at 200 rpm, after which the mixture was left undisturbed to allow the silica adsorbent to sediment by gravity. The concentration of the iron oxide nanoparticles in the supernatant was determined by measuring the UV-vis absorbance at 575 nm after dilution of the samples, where necessary, such that the absorbance was below 2. The specific adsorption and monolayer coverage of IO nanoclusters to silica microspheres was calculated based on the difference in the supernatant concentrations and volumes before and after adsorption. For all particles tested, there was a strong linear correlation between absorbance at 575 nm and the IO concentration in solution. In the VYDAC® silica studies, the final concentration of IO in the supernatant was corrected for the inaccessible pore volume (0.6 g/mL) in the silica and any added NaOH solution added at the beginning of the study.
Characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles: Zeta potential of iron oxide nanoparticles was measured using a Brookhaven ZetaPALS instrument at room temperature. Electrophoretic mobility of iron oxide nanoparticles in 10 mM KCl (Debye length κ−1=3 nm) was collected at a 15° scattering angle. 10 measurements with 30 cycles for each run were averaged, and zeta potential was converted from the electrophoretic mobility using the Smoluchowski equation (κa>>1).
Dynamic light scattering (“DLS”) analysis was performed to measure the hydrodynamic diameter of nanoclusters in DI water using a Brookhaven ZetaPlus instrument at 90° scattering angle. The collected autocorrelation functions were fitted with the CONTIN algorithm, which is well-known in the art. All measurements were made over a period of 3 minutes, and at least three measurements were performed on each sample. The concentration of iron oxide for the measurements was approximately 0.005%, giving a measured count rate of approximately 500 kcps.
Thermogravimetric analysis (“TGA”) was used to measure the organic content, of the iron oxide nanoclusters. All measurements were conducted using a Mettler-Toledo TGA/SDTA851e instrument under nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 5° C./min from 25 to 800° C. The percentage loss of weight was reported as the mass fraction of organic coating on the iron oxide.
Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (“FAAS”) was used to measure the concentration of iron in the dispersion. All measurements were performed using a GBC 908AA flame atomic absorption spectrometer (commercially available from GBC Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd) at 242.8 nm with an air-acetylene flame.
Characterization of polymer-coated nanoclusters: Copolymers with PAA (see
Adsorption of polymer-coated nanoclusters on silica microspheres (unmodified): The effects of various polymer coatings (see
The % IO adsorbed quantifies the amount of adsorption relative to the initial concentration of IO in solution. When less than 10% of the initial IO was adsorbed, the uncertainty increased significantly given the small change measured in the supernatant. The equilibrium IO concentration and the specific adsorption are thermodynamic properties at equilibrium. The percent monolayer coverage (“% ML”) is the adsorption level of nanoclusters compared to an ideal, 2D close-packed monolayer of spheres. The polymer coating on the nanoclusters provides electrosteric repulsion between the nanoclusters and the silica as a kinetic barrier to adsorption, where more adsorbed polymer is expected to provide a larger barrier. Thermodynamically, this repulsion offsets the van der Waals and any specific attraction between the particles and the substrate (i.e., silica). The added electrosteric repulsion with the polymer stabilizer minimizes adsorption of polymer-coated nanoparticles at high salinity, despite the reduced double layer thickness. The polymer coatings were structurally varied in their constituent monomers, ratios of monomer units, and molecular weights, and each of these factors had an effect on the adsorption of the particles to silica. Overall, the PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-212 kDa polymer coating resulted in the highest silica adsorption with 2.58 mg-IO/m2-silica at 0.085% w/v IO, representing a 1.3% ML. Upon decreasing the IO concentration to 0.009% w/v IO, the lowest specific adsorption level was 0.16 mg-IO/m2-silica displayed by the 77 kDa PAMPS-PAA (1:2) coated clusters, which corresponded to 0.1% ML. A clear trend was not observed between the ratio of AMPS:AA at a fixed IO concentration (˜0.01% w/v). However, referring to
The PSS-b-PAA (2.4:1) coated particles, which had a higher sulfonate content and a block copolymer architecture, but only 15% organic content (see Table 2) displayed low levels of adsorption similar to PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-52 kDa, PAMPS-PAA (1:6)-46 kDa, and PAMPS-PAA (1:2)-77 kDa at 0.010% w/v IO in the initial solution. It is likely that in the block copolymer architecture, the sulfonate groups repelled the silica surface more effectively, as they were not mixed with the more strongly adsorbing carboxylate groups, particularly in high salinity. This structure places the stabilizing sulfonate groups towards the outer surface of the particles, which may reduce Ca2+ bridging of carboxylate groups, near the iron oxide surface, to the silica surface. For the 212 kDa PAMPS-PAA (1:1) coated particles, an increase in pH from pH 8 to 10 resulted in nearly a 50% reduction in adsorption by modifying the various ionic interactions between monomer groups, dissolved ions, and the silica surface.
While there are several reports on batch adsorption of heavy metal ions like Pb2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Mn2+ and As, literature on batch adsorption of NPs on substrates is rare. Adsorption of bare 95 nm C60 fullerene aggregates on 360 μm diameter glass beads or Ottawa sand is seen in Table 4.
The NP concentrations tested (about 0.0009-0.0012% w/v C60) were two orders of magnitude lower than the highest NP concentration in this study (0.192% w/v IO). Electrostatically stabilized bare C60 particles showed low adsorption in DI water (about 0.022-0.033 mg-C60/m2 or about 0.03-0.04% ML), which rapidly increased to about 0.14-0.63 mg/m2 or 0.18-0.79% ML in just 1 mM CaCl2 (ionic strength=3 mM). In comparison, PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-212 coated IO nanoclusters displayed similar adsorption values 0.57-0.88 mg/m2 (0.3-0.5% ML) with 600 fold higher salinity (e.g., standard API brine) at a higher 0.005-0.007% w/v IO due to the electrosteric stabilization provided by PAMPS-PAA.
Studies of nanoparticle adsorption using 1-dimensional (“1D”) column flow studies are much more common than batch studies, but very few have used high salinity brines. The retention of polymer-coated zero-valent iron (“ZVI”) nanoparticles in brine (>100 mM NaCl or >40 mM CaCl2) with sandpacks has been studied as indicated in Table 5. Although a side-by-side comparison between these studies and our batch adsorption data is somewhat complicated by additional particle retention mechanisms in a continuous flow configuration (e.g., hydrodynamic effects, pore-scale mechanisms), specific retention (mg/m2) from the column studies may be compared with those from our batch studies. ZVI particles coated with PMAA48-b-PMMA17-b-P55650 and PMAA42-b-PMMA26-b-P55462 triblock copolymers on 300 μm silica sand at 100 mM NaCl have been studied and found specific retention of about 0.029-0.035 mg/m2 with an injected iron concentration of 0.3% w/v (see Table 5). The reported retention values were lower than the values in this study (see Table 3), but at an 18 fold lower salinity than standard API brine. Table 3 shows the adsorption of a series of polymer-coated IO nanoclusters on colloidal silica microspheres in standard API brine before amine modification.
ZVI particles coated with 90 kDa carboxymethyl cellulose (“CMC”) on 250-420 μm quartz sand at 40 mM CaCl2 have been studied and found specific retention of about 8.4 mg/m2 with an injected iron concentration of 0.02% w/v, which is much higher than the adsorption values in this study for unmodified polymer-coated IO nanoclusters. Table 5 is a literature summary of column studies with polymer-coated nanoparticles at highest salinity conditions tested (≧100 mM NaCl or ≧40 mM CaCl2). The high retention may be attributed in part to Ca2+ bridging of carboxylate groups in CMC to the substrate.
Polymers composed of sulfonic acid groups, especially AMPS, bind weakly to Ca2+ and as a result were found to be soluble in water with high calcium ion concentrations. The weak Ca2+ binding of AMPS-based copolymers can be ascribed to their highly acidic nature, comparatively long side chains (relative to PAA) leading to increased conformational freedom and to the hydrophilic amide group that promotes solubility. In contrast, carboxylic acid groups including polyacrylic acid (hydrophobic backbone) and alginic acid (hydrophilic polysaccharide) bind strongly to calcium ions. According to calorimetry, this strong binding is mostly entropically driven, and has been attributed to dehydration of the Ca2+ ions, which may be expected to be favored by polymers with hydrophobic backbones. Consequently, these interactions lead to collapse of the polymer chains, as characterized by precipitation and gelation. Based on the classic concept, polymer-stabilized colloidal particles undergo critical flocculation at conditions that are similar to phase boundaries for the polymers in solution. Therefore, the sulfonic acid polymer-coated particles, particularly PAMPS-PAA IO nanoclusters in this study, remained stable in standard API brine. The chains likely exhibited an extended conformation from the IO surface due to high solubility of PAMPS-PAA in standard API brine. The extended chains, with a Flory-Huggins solvency parameter of <0.5, provide electrosteric stabilization against IO nanocluster aggregation due to increased osmotic pressure when two polymer-coated IO nanoclusters approach each other. Similarly, the extended PAMPS-PAA chains also minimize adsorption on silica, even at high salinity, given electrosteric repulsion with both osmotic and elastic contributions.
Adsorption of amine-modified polymer-coated nanoclusters on silica microspheres: The hydrophilic PAMPS-PAA coated IO nanoclusters were modified with a series of diamines and triamines with varying levels of hydrophobicity, as shown in
The silica adsorption results for PAMPS-PAA- and PSS-b-PSS coated IO nanoclusters modified to varying degrees with amines are summarized in Table 6; representative photographs of low, medium, and high adsorption are shown in
In all cases at pH 8, the adsorption increased upon modification with amines relative to the corresponding unmodified polymer-coated nanoclusters in Table 3. In general, the added amine modifier did not significantly change the hydrodynamic diameter or zeta potential of the nanoclusters. For a given modifier, the level of silica adsorption increased with increasing % modification up to a certain limit, beyond which no further increase was observed. This trend was observed for the case of melamine (PAMPS-PAA 1:1-212 kDa), where adsorption rises from 4.6 to 9.6 mg/m2 upon increasing the extent of modification from 12.5% and 50%. Beyond 50%, however, the adsorption reached a plateau, suggesting that the nanocluster surface had been saturated with the amine modifier. A similar saturation behavior was observed for PPG-6 triamine (PAMPS-PAA 1:1-212 kDa) and PEG-2 diamine (PAMPS-PAA 1:1-212 kDa) at 12.5% and 1% modification, respectively.
The effect of the molecular weight and the chemical structure of the amine modifiers on the adsorption was investigated at pH 8 for PAMPS-PAA 1:1 (212 kDa) coated IOs. The extent of adsorption correlated with both the hydrophobicity and the molecular weight of the amine modifier. The extent of adsorption at pH 8 increased in the order PEG-113 diamine >PPG-6 triamine >PEG-33 diamine >Hexanediamine >PEG-2 diamine >melamine. For a 5% modification level of the largest and most hydrophobic modifier, PPG-30 triamine, the nanoclusters were unstable in standard API brine, and therefore adsorption on silica was not studied. Adsorption with an even higher molecular weight modifier, PEG-113 diamine (5000 Da) at 1% modification, however, did not cause aggregation and led to a highly increased IO adsorption of 22.4 mg/m2 or 11.5% ML. The moderately sized PEG-33 diamine (1500 kDa) at 1% modification also produced a highly increased adsorption of 15.1 mg/m2 or 7.8% ML, whereas the smallest PEG-2 diamine (148 Da) at 5% modification only moderately increased the adsorption (7.8 mg/m2 or 4% ML). A smaller hydrophobic PPG-6 triamine (440 Da) on the other hand was as effective as the PEG-113 diamine at increasing the adsorption to a high level of 21 mg/m2 or 11% ML, but only at 12.5% or higher modification. The low molecular weight modifier, hexanediamine, which is similar in MW to PEG-2 diamine but more hydrophobic, increased adsorption from 7.4 to 13.5 mg/m2 at 1% and 100% modification, respectively. In summary, the specific adsorption was tuned over a wide range with the amine modification. In comparison, the values were either well below or well above the retention level of about 8.4 mg/m2 found for carboxymethyl cellulose-coated Fe nanoparticles, reported by He et al. on quartz sand in 40 mM CaCl2 (see Table 5).
As shown in Table 6, the measured zeta potentials in 10 mM KCl at pH 8 ranged from −24.4 to −40.9 mV for hexanediamine-modified PSS-b-PAA and PAMPS-PAA (2:1), respectively. As shown in Table 2, the corresponding value for unmodified PAMPS-PAA (2:1) was only slight more negative at −45 mV. The lower molecular weight modifiers (melamine, hexanediamine, and PEG-2 diamine), especially melamine, added a higher density of amine groups to the surface of the nanoclusters than the higher molecular weight modifiers for a given amount of amine-terminated modifiers. The presence of ammonium groups on unreacted ends of diamines may have contributed positive charges at pH 8, however, the zeta potential of the amine-modified nanoclusters were still highly negative in 10 mM KCl, and dispersions of the particles remained stable in standard API brine, as shown in
The presence of ammonium groups would likely increase the adsorption via electrostatic interaction with oppositely charged silica at pH 8. To study this contribution, adsorption was also studied at pH 10, at which primary amines would not be protonated and would be neutral. When hexanediamine, PEG-2 diamine, or PPG-6 triamine were used, no significant change in adsorption was observed with pH. However, the adsorption with melamine was lower at pH 10 than 8. Moreover, adsorption values were observed that were close to those for the unmodified nanoclusters, that is 1.4-2.3 mg/m2 or <1.2% ML. The zeta potential of 50% melamine-modified IO nanoclusters became more negative when measured in 10 mM KCl at pH 10 (−48.4 mV) compared to the corresponding value at pH 8 (−38.9 mV). Similarly, 50% PPG-6 triamine-modified IO nanoclusters showed a more negative zeta potential in 10 mM KCl at pH 10 (−43.8 mV) compared to −33.7 mV at pH 8. Thus, protonation of the amine groups, while contributing somewhat to the zeta potential, did not drop the potential significantly, indicating that a relatively small number of amine groups were present compared to the number of unmodified carboxylates and non-reactive AMPS groups.
Modification with hexanediamine was also studied with two other polymer coated IO nanoclusters, PAMPS-PAA (2:1) and PSS-b-PAA (2.4:1), which have a higher proportion of sulfonate groups. When the PAMPS-PAA (2:1) coated clusters were modified at a modification level of 100%, the SiO2 adsorption observed, 1.4% and 0.7% ML, was well below the value of 7.5% ML observed for PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-212 kDa. Given that the sulfonate groups are unreactive, it is not surprising that modification with hexanediamine produces a smaller reduction of adsorption for these polymers with a higher sulfonate proportion. Then, a block copolymer stabilizer was compared with a random copolymer. Although the sulfonate:AA monomer ratio is about the same, the block copolymer PSS-b-PAA showed lower adsorption than the random PAMPS-PAA (2:1), likely due to the block backbone structure, which places the stabilizing sulfonate groups towards the outer surface of the particles. Furthermore, Ca2+ bridging of carboxylate groups to the silica surface may be reduced when the carboxylate functionalities are near the iron oxide surface, as noted with the unmodified PSS-b-PAA-coated IO nanoclusters. Polymer-coated IO nanocluster adsorption isotherms:
The data are linearized in a Langmuir plot in
The slope (m) (see Equation 1) of the fitted line is expressed in units of 107 m−1 and the intercept (b) (see Equation 2) in units of m2/mg-IO. Isotherm parameters were determined using the following equations:
where kdes/kads is the ratio of the rate of desorption to the rate of adsorption (m−3), Mp is the mass of one nanocluster (g), Ac is the adsorption capacity on the collector surface (g-IO/g-silica), and ρa is the specific surface area of silica (m2/g-silica). Using the specific surface area of the silica, Ac can be converted to (mg-IO/m2-silica). For hexanediamine-modified (PAA-PBA)-b-PSS coated IO nanoclusters (see
With only 8% NaCl in solution, the adsorption was measured to be 2.3 mg/m2, indicating that 86.5% of the particles initially in solution adsorbed to the VYDAC® silica, and the adsorption with only 2% CaCl2 in solution was lower at 0.5 mg/m2 with 0.0016% w/v IO. When the particles were dispersed in standard API brine, with both 8% NaCl and 2% CaCl2 in solution, the measured adsorption was 0.6 mg/m2 with 0.0030% w/v IO and increased to 2.3 mg/m2 at 0.0048% w/v IO. At each of these concentrations, the adsorption values were similar as for 3% NaCl in
As a result of the foregoing, aspects of the present invention provide low adsorption (<1 mg/m2, 0.2% of monolayer) of polymer-coated ˜100 nm iron oxide nanoclusters on silica microspheres in standard API brine by: (1) coating the particles with a sufficient amount of a sulfonated copolymer, and (2) providing a sufficient level of a sulfonated component (2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate or styrenesulfonate) in the copolymer for electrosteric repulsion with the negatively charged silica surface. A wide range of coatings were investigated with a combinatorial materials chemistry approach, in which the nanoparticle synthesis process was separated from the coating process. In most cases, the nanocluster adsorption on silica decreased with an increase in the amount of organic material on the nanoclusters, as measured by TGA, due to the increased electrosteric interactions between the nanoclusters and the silica surfaces. Based on parameters obtained from fitting Langmuir isotherms, the lowest adsorption was observed for PAMPS-PAA(1:1)-212 kDa (1.1% monolayer coverage) reflecting the high polymer loading, low hydrophobicity of the AMPS functionality versus PSS, the higher MW of the polymer, and the fact that these were not modified with any amines. The incorporation of hydrophobic butylacrylate monomers into copolymers containing styrenesulfonate and AA produced a large increase in adsorption and caused the particles to lose colloidal stability in standard API brine.
In an effort to systematically tune the adsorption of IO on rock surfaces, a series of PAMPS-PAA coatings were synthesized, where the AA groups were modified with various amines, including melamine, hexanediamine, PEG diamines, and polypropylene glycol (“PPG”) triamines. When amines with a variety of molecular weights, hydrophobicities (based on choice of amine), and levels of functionalization were used as modifiers, the stability in standard API brine was still maintained. The adsorption of modified PAMPS-PAA coated IO nanoclusters on silica microspheres ranged from 1.2% to 11.5% monolayer coverage. A trend in the adsorption levels was observed, and followed the order: melamine <PEG-2 diamine <hexanediamine <PEG-33 diamine <PPG-6 triamine <PEG-113 diamine, indicating that the adsorption increased with MW and hydrophobicity of the amine. The ability to tune the adsorption level is useful for a variety of subsurface applications, including electromagnetic subsurface imaging.
As previously indicated, the interest has grown markedly in the last few years in nanotechnology for subsurface reservoirs to facilitate oil and gas recovery, image subsurface reservoirs, aid sequestration of CO2, and benefit environmental remediation. In subsurface reservoirs, the high salinities (>>1 M) and often elevated temperatures up to ˜150° C., typically cause nanoparticle aggregation, as well as excessive undesired adsorption of nanoparticles on mineral surfaces. Low molecular weight stabilizers on nanoparticle surfaces do not provide sufficient electrostatic repulsion at high ionic strength, given extensive charge screening in very thin double layers. However, ionic and zwitterionic polymer chains on nanoparticle surfaces have been designed to provide sufficient steric and electrosteric stabilization in highly concentrated NaCl up to 5 M. Unfortunately, the polymer stabilizers often collapse, becoming ineffective at high temperatures (e.g., 50° C. to 150° C.) in NaCl brines, and even at 25° C. when concentrated divalent ions are present. Thus, hereinafter are disclosed polymer coatings to stabilize nanoparticles in concentrated brines containing divalent ions at high temperature and to resist adsorption on mineral surfaces.
Polymer stabilizers on nanoparticle surfaces can prevent nanoparticle flocculation if the pure polymer in the same solvent does not undergo phase separation. As the salinity increases, the lower critical solution temperature (“LCST”) for the nonionic polymer polyethylene glycol (“PEG”) (without nanoparticles) decreases as the hydrogen bonding with water is weakened. Polyacrylic acid (“PAA”) remains soluble in 1 M NaCl at 90° C., but precipitates even with low Ca2+ at ambient temperature due to specific-ion complexation and hydration, as shown by NMR and calorimetry measurements. In contrast, highly acidic sulfonated polymers display low Ca2+ binding affinities, and therefore remain soluble even at high temperatures, especially those containing high levels of styrenesulfonate or 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate (“AMPS”).
Polyelectrolyte chains on nanoparticle surfaces, which interact favorably with concentrated brine, do not collapse and provide steric and electrosteric stabilization. For example, PAA or polymethacrylic acid (“PMAA”) stabilizes latexes and iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”) in 1-3.5 M Na+ or K+ at room temperature. In contrast, Ca2+ and Mg2+ induces flocculation of alginate-coated hematite NPs even at 5 mM. IO NPs with adsorbed PAA-PVS/polystyrenesulfonate (“PSS”) copolymers were stable even in 5 M NaCl at room temperature, given the solvation of each group. Furthermore, PSS-based copolymers stabilized NP dispersions in relatively dilute solutions of 0.1 M Mg2+ or Ca2+ at room temperature. The same anionic polymers that provide repulsion between nanoparticles can also minimize NP adsorption on negatively charged bulk surfaces, for example silica as a mimic of sandstone. Despite various studies of transport of polymer-stabilized NPs in porous media, relatively few studies have examined NP adsorption isotherms on silica in either DI water or 1 mM Ca2+, and none have explored highly concentrated brines with divalent ions.
In porous media, the large volumes and mineral surface areas provide a strong thermodynamic driving force for desorption of adsorbed polymers from nanoparticle surfaces. Acrylic acid-based polymers adsorbed on iron oxide by only charge-transfer complexes are readily susceptible to desorption. For more permanent attachment, predesigned polymers with the desired composition and molecular weight may be covalently attached to NP surfaces by a “grafting to” technique. A large number of anchor groups m for multipoint covalent grafting for enhanced stability, especially in harsh environments.
Disclosed herein are iron oxide NPs with covalently grafted copolymers that form stable dispersions in standard API brine even at 90° C., and adsorb only very weakly on silica microparticles. The pre-synthesized poly(2-methyl-2-acrylamidopropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (PAMPS:PAA 3:1) copolymer had a high proportion of solvated AMPS stabilizer groups to provide low binding affinity for calcium ions, yet a sufficient fraction of acrylic acid anchor groups for permanent multipoint attachment. The grafting onto amine-functionalized IO NPs via a multipoint amidation reaction was found to be permanent, as demonstrated by stable dispersions even after 40,000 fold serial dilution. As shown by DLS measurements, the hydrodynamic diameter of the pure polymer underwent little contraction at high salinity and temperature, which was as expected given the weak Ca2+ interactions. Consequently, favorable solvation of extended PAMPS-PAA brushes on the IO surfaces is shown to provide steric stabilization between nanoparticles, and nanoparticles with the silica surfaces. These weak interactions with silica result in extremely low adsorption with a 0.4% monolayer coverage despite the extreme salinity.
Materials utilized: Iron(II) chloride tetrahydrate, iron(III) chloride hexahydrate, citric acid monohydrate, 30% ammonium hydroxide, 3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane (“APTES”), glacial acetic acid, calcium chloride dihydrate, sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (“EDC”), acrylic acid, potassium persulfate, sodium metabisulfite, and polyacrylic acid sodium salt (5 kDa) were obtained from commercial sources and used as received. The monomer 2-amino-2-methylpropanesulfonate (“AMPS”) was commercially obtained from Lubrizol corporation and used as received. Colloidal silica microspheres (8 μm, product number SIOP800-01-1KG) were commercially purchased from Fiber Optic Center Inc., New Bedford, Mass., USA. Deionized (“DI”) water from a Barnstead Nanopure system was used.
Synthesis of poly(2-acrylamido-3-methylpropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (“PAMPS-PAA”): The PAMPS-PAA random copolymers with a AMPS:AA ratio of 3:1 were synthesized by the following procedure. A three-necked round bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar, a nitrogen inlet and a reflux condenser was charged with an AMPS monomer, potassium persulfate, and sodium metabisulfite under a nitrogen atmosphere. The flask was sealed with rubber septa and deionized water that was previously degassed by bubbling with nitrogen for 30 minutes was added via a nitrogen-purged syringe or a cannula to the reaction flask, such that the concentration of monomer was 1.0 M. With stirring, acrylic acid was added to the reaction flask via a nitrogen-purged syringe. The flask was placed in an oil bath thermostated at 80° C. and stirred at that temperature for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and the water was removed under reduced pressure. The resulting white solid was then dried under reduced pressure until a constant mass was reached.
Synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles: Iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”) were prepared by the coprecipitation of Fe(II) and Fe(III) chlorides in an alkaline solution. A mixture of 2.15 g FeCl2.4H2O and 5.87 g FeCl3.6H2O (1:2 mole ratio), and 0.125 g of citric acid were dissolved in 100 mL DI water. The solution was heated to 90° C. under magnetic stirring followed by injection of 25 mL of 30% wt. aqueous NH4OH solution to nucleate the IO NPs. The NP growth was continued for 2 hours at 90° C. The mixture was then cooled to room temperature and centrifuged to recover 2.5 g of IO NPs that were dispersed in 50 mL of DI water with a Branson probe sonication microtip.
Amine-functionalization of IO NPs: Hydrolysis and condensation of APTES was conducted by mixing 12.5 ml of APTES in 125 g of a 5% wt. acetic acid solution. After an hour of acid hydrolysis, which has been shown to form dimers and higher oligomers of APTES, pH was adjusted to 8 using 1 N NaOH solution. The reaction mixture was further diluted with DI water followed by the addition of 50 ml of IO NP solution (2.5 g of IO) to reach a total volume of 500 ml and a final IO concentration of 0.5% w/v. This mixture was placed in a water bath at 65° C. for 20-24 hours under magnetic stirring. After removal from the bath, the cooled NPs were separated with a strong magnet, supernatant was discarded, and the NPs were washed twice with 200 ml of DI water. Then, the washed NPs were dispersed in 50 ml of DI water, pH was adjusted to 6 with 1 N HCl, NPs were probe sonicated for 30 minutes, and centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes to remove large clusters. The amine-functionalized IOs in the supernatant were retained for grafting PAMPS-PAA polymer. The typical yield at the end of APTES functionalization was 60-70% IO.
Grafting of PAMPS-PAA on amine IO NPs: The amine-functionalized IO NP clusters were coated with the PAMPS-PAA(3:1) copolymer by forming amide bonds between the PAA anchoring groups and the amine groups on the IO surface. Grafting was conducted by first dissolving polymer with 1 N NaOH to pH=6, followed by addition of 20% wt. NaCl solution, DI water, and amine IO stock solution under vigorous magnetic stirring to reach a final concentration of 1% IO, 5% polymer, and 3% NaCl. The pH was again adjusted to 6, and after 5-10 minutes, EDC (same moles as PAA) was added to facilitate amide bond formation. The reaction was continued overnight at room temperature under constant stirring. The polymer-coated iron oxide NPs were separated by centrifugation and washed with DI water twice to remove excess polymer and NaCl. The NPs were finally dispersed in DI water at ˜2% w/v IO. Typical IO yield after this procedure was 70-90% IO. A high polymer to IO ratio (5:1) and NaCl encouraged enhanced adsorption of polymer on NPs and formed thick polymer layers. Electrostatically attached PAMPS-PAA IO NPs were prepared for the polymer desorption test by a similar procedure, except that EDC was not added.
Adsorption of polymer-coated IO NPs on silica: A batch technique was used to measure the IO NP adsorption on 8 μm colloidal silica microspheres. The colloidal silica was washed at least five times with DI water to remove fines. Optical and scanning electron microscopy images showed uniformly sized silica spheres, as shown in
Polymer desorption test: The PAMPS-PAA-grafted IO NPs were diluted 200 fold to 0.01% w/v IO in 1 M NaCl solution and equilibrated for 24 hours to allow desorption of non-covalently attached polymer. The NPs were centrifuged at 15,000 g and dispersed in DI water after discarding the supernatant. The dilution and equilibration steps were repeated, followed by NP separation by centrifugation and redispersion of IO NPs in DI water by probe sonication. These two rounds of 200 fold dilution amounted to a 40,000 fold dilution of the initial IO solution. The final IO sample was tested for stability in standard API brine at 90° C. As a control, electrostatically attached PAMPS-PAA on IO NPs (prepared without EDC) was also subjected to a similar dilution test followed by assessment of colloidal stability in standard API brine at 90° C.
Characterization of the IO NPs: Dynamic light scattering (“DLS”) analysis was performed to measure the hydrodynamic diameter of PAMPS-PAA polymer and grafted IO NPs in DI water and standard API brine using a Brookhaven ZetaPlus instrument at 90° scattering angle. The built-in temperature controller allowed DLS measurements at higher temperatures. The collected autocorrelation functions were fitted with the CONTIN algorithm. Measurements were made over a period of 3 minutes, and at least three measurements were performed on each sample. The measurements were conducted with a 02% wt. PAMPS-PAA and 0.005% wt. IO NPs solution that gave a measured count rate of approximately 35 and 500 kcps, respectively. Electrophoretic mobility of PAMPS-PAA polymer and grafted IO NPs was measured with a Brookhaven ZetaPlus instrument at a 15° scattering angle at room temperature. Mobility of iron oxide nanoparticles was collected in 10 mM KCl (Debye length κ−1=3 nm). A set of 10 measurements with 30 cycles for each run were averaged. Electrophoretic mobility measurements at higher salinity were collected at 3 V and 20 Hz frequency to overcome polarization issues. Thermogravimetric analysis (“TGA”) was used to measure the organic content of the IO NPs after APTES functionalization and PAMPS-PAA grafting. Measurements were conducted using a Mettler-Toledo TGA/SDTA851e instrument under air at a heating rate of 5° C./min from 25 to 800° C. The percentage loss of weight was reported as the mass fraction of organic coating on the iron oxide. Transmission electron microscopy (“TEM”) was performed on a FEI TECNAI G2 F20 X-TWIN TEM. A dilute aqueous dispersion of the IO NP clusters was deposited onto a 200 mesh carbon-coated copper TEM grid for imaging. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (“FAAS”) was used to measure the concentration of iron in the dispersion. Measurements were performed using a GBC 908AA flame atomic absorption spectrometer (GBC Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd) at 242.8 nm with an air-acetylene flame. Superconducting quantum interference device (“SQUID”) was used to measure the magnetization curves of powders of IO NPs before and after polymer coating with a Quantum Design MPMS SQUID magnetometer. M-H loops were collected at 300 K. Liquid magnetic susceptibility was measured with a Bartington susceptometer operated at a frequency of 696 Hz.
PAMPS-PAA phase behavior, hydrodynamic diameter, and electrophoretic mobility in brine: A random copolymer of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate (“AMPS”) and acrylic acid (“AA”) with a monomer ratio of AMPS:AA=3:1 (see
A similar correlation between DH and DOP for poly(acrylic acid-co-sulfonic acid) was validated by static light scattering measurements. The DH of 10 nm for the PAMPS-PAA (3:1) translated to a DOP of approximately 1000 (750 AMPS:250 AA groups) and a MW of approximately 200 kDa. As shown in
The electrophoretic mobility (u) of PAMPS-PAA was determined in a series of saline solutions with a fixed Na2+/Ca2+ mole ratio=7.6 (same as standard API brine) up to 1.8 M ionic strength at pH 8. As shown in
The observed effects of cations on the conformation, phase behavior, and electrophoretic mobility of PAMPS-PAA were consistent with the previously reported behavior of the respective homopolymers in the presence of salts. Polyacrylic acid (“PAA”) is a weak polyelectrolyte (pKa=4.5), and consequently the carboxylate anion interacts strongly with divalent counterions at pH≧7. As previously shown by 23Na NMR relaxation measurements, Na-PAA exhibits relatively weak binding between Na+ and the anionic acrylate, yet much stronger interactions with Ca2+. In fact, this strong association of PAA with multivalent cations is a reason PAA is often chosen as an anchor group for metal oxide NPs. Isothermal calorimetry studies have demonstrated that the association of PAA with Ca2+ is endothermic, however the binding is driven by the entropy gained via the release of 10 water molecules and 2 Na+ ions per bound Ca2+. In accord with the favorable entropy for binding of Ca2+, increased precipitation of PAA with Ca2+ has been observed with rising temperature. Neutron and light scattering measurements close to the phase boundary demonstrated that the radius of gyration (“Rg”) and DH of PAA decreased more than two fold upon complexation with Ca2+ at concentrations of 2.5 mM PAA and 1 mM Ca2+. At higher Ca2+ concentrations, this complexation leads to decreased solvation and polymer precipitation. Relative to PAA, more hydrophilic polycarboxylates including polyasparte (“PAsp”) and polyacrylamide-co-methyl butanoate (“PAMB”) with amide functionalities exhibit reduced Ca2+ binding and enhanced solubility in Ca2+ brines even at temperatures up to 70° C. relative to the more hydrophobic PAA.
In contrast to polycarboxylates, PAMPS is a much more strongly acidic polyelectrolyte (pKa=1) and thus interacts more weakly with divalent cations. 23Na NMR spectroscopy revealed that the coupling constant for Na-PAMPS is maintained with added Ca2+ even at PAMPS/Ca2+ molar ratio of 1.4 (0.4 mM monomer and 0.6 mM Ca2+), suggesting relatively weak binding to Ca2+. In addition to the high acidity of PAMPS' sulfonate group, the hydrophilic amide group (see
Hydrodynamic diameters measured by DLS of 200 kDa PAMPS-PAA (3:1) in 0.18 M Ca2+, standard API brine and 0.45 M Ca2+ at room temperature and pH 8: The lack of chain collapse in high ionic strength solutions reflects the judicious design of the copolymer. The 750 hydrated PAMPS groups in the copolymer chain do not bind specifically to Ca2+, and furthermore mask the much more favorable Ca2+ binding of the 250 PAA groups, thereby preventing significant collapse of the chain. The statistical distribution of the monomer units throughout the polymer backbone places stabilizing AMPS groups adjacent to AA groups, which promotes hydration of AA and weakens Ca2+ binding relative to a pure PAA chain.
Subsequent efforts were focused on examining the effect of temperature on the conformation of PAMPS-PAA by measuring the hydrodynamic diameter at 90° C. (see
To achieve robust covalent attachment of the synthesized PAMPS-PAA to the IO surface, a “grafting to” process was utilized, which enables direct attachment of pre-formed copolymers with desired molecular weight and well-defined composition. This process circumvents the limitations of the alternative, the “grafting from” approach, including the need for surface grafted initiators, catalysts, and oxygen-free conditions. As shown in
Referring to
While the covalent grafting of the anionic PAMPS-PAA on the cationic amine surface at pH 6 was expected to be favorable by the electrostatic attraction at low graft densities, as the graft density increases the negative charge in the brush layer will inhibit further grafting. The grafting procedure was therefore performed in the presence of NaCl to screen the charges. After grafting with anionic PAMPS-PAA, the electrophoretic mobility was reversed to a negative value of −2.8×10−8 m2/(V-sec) at pH 8 and the organic content increased to 15% wt., as measured by TGA (see Table 9). After PAMPS-PAA grafting, the volume-based magnetic susceptibility of the liquid dispersion changed little from 7 to 6.8/g-Fe (see Table 9), and the saturation magnetization, as shown in
After polymer grafting, the DH of the IO particles in DI water increased from 55±7 to 258±34 nm, as determined by DLS and TEM (see
Notably, a decrease in DH from 258±34 nm in DI water to 165±24 nm in standard API brine (see Table 9 and
Further efforts were directed towards determining whether the PAMPS-PAA chains were covalently grafted to the IO NP surfaces, rather than physically adsorbed. To this end, the dispersions were diluted by a factor of 40,000 to concentrations of 0.01% w/v IO.
As demonstrated by the dilution test, the covalent bonding of PAMPS-PAA to nanoparticle surfaces provided much more robust attachment than chemisorption, for example by reversible charge-transfer complexes between iron cations and polycarboxylates as shown in
Referring to
The remarkable stability of the PAMPS-PAA grafted IO NPs may be explained by classical concepts in colloid chemistry. According to the classic concept of Napper, the colloidal stability of the PAMPS-PAA-grafted IO NPs (see
The equilibrium structure of dense polyelectrolyte brushes is governed by a balance between short-ranged excluded volume, long-ranged electrostatic interactions, and the osmotic effects of the counterions in the brush layer, in many ways as described above for pure polyelectrolytes. At low salt concentrations, highly concentrated confined counterions in the brush generate an osmotic pressure that stretches the chains. However, when the concentration of added salt approaches the ion concentration within the brush layer, screening of the electrostatic repulsion and reduction in the osmotic pressure cause the brushes to contract. Eventually, the highly screened polyelectrolyte brush will behave similarly to an uncharged brush. The contraction of polymer brushes with salinity was observed by DLS for polymethacrylic acid (“PMAA”)-coated latex NPs, where the brush thickness decreased from 22.3 nm at 100 mM NaCl to 15.8 nm at only 500 mM NaCl at pH 7. Similarly, the thickness of PSS brushes on latex NPs decreased from 65 nm at 0.1 mM Mg2 to 28 nm at 100 mM Mg2+.
The charge of the brush layer, which influences the brush conformation may be studied directly in terms of the electrophoretic mobility. Relatively few studies have reported μ of anionic polyelectrolyte-coated NPs up to the high salinity levels shown in
Steric stabilization has been demonstrated in solutions of up to 5 M NaCl at room temperature for NPs coated with PAA, PMAA, and copolymers containing poly(vinylsulfonate) and/or PSS. Here, the segment-solvent interactions were favorably attractive (χ<½) because of the weak affinity of Na+ for the carboxylate or sulfonate anions. When divalent ions are present, PSS-coated iron NPs were stable only up to 100 mM Ca2+ at room temperature, and PSS-grafted latex NPs precipitated above 100 mM Mg2′. These results are consistent with partial chain collapse of PSS in the presence of divalent ions as observed by small angle neutron scattering (“SANS”) and NMR. The divalent ion binding is likely promoted by dehydration of sulfonates due to hydrophobicity of the styrene group. Thus, PSS segment-solvent interactions become repulsive (χ>½) at high divalent ion concentrations causing loss of steric stabilization. In contrast, PAMPS-PAA grafted IO NPs remained stable in highly concentrated standard API brine at both room temperature and at 90° C. The highly hydrophilic and acidic AMPS group that binds weakly to Ca2+ ensures attractive PAMPS segment-solvent interactions even in the presence of Ca2+ with a favorable χ (<½) for steric stabilization in standard API brine. The favorable χ is also evident in the phase behavior and conformation of the pure polymer. When the distance of approach between two NPs becomes closer than the brush thickness, compression of the polymer chains causes a loss in entropy or elastic repulsion. The high MW of PAMPS-PAA and graft density each contribute to the high entropic elastic repulsion contribution. Furthermore, the residual charge, as shown in the electrophoretic mobility, provides a degree of electrostatic repulsion between overlapping brushes that further contributes to the colloidal stability. In summary, the highly screened polymer brushes behaved as neutral brushes with favorable solvation to provide steric stabilization even at high temperatures in standard API brine, similarly to the earlier results for PMAA in NaCl brines at room temperature.
Adsorption of PAMPS-PAA grafted IO NPs on silica: The batch adsorption technique allows for rapid simple measurement of equilibrium nanoparticle adsorption behavior relative to measurement of nanoparticle retention in flow study in porous media where additional effect of filtration and hydrodynamics may be present. The IO adsorption on silica microspheres was observed visually (see
For either DI water or standard API brine, after overnight equilibration at pH 8, the settled silica microspheres were white at low IO concentration and lightly colored at 1.0%. In DI water, the difference between the initial and final concentration, reported as % IO adsorbed, was very small for all samples (<2%). Based on the volume of the solution and the surface area of silica, the calculated specific adsorption values were smaller than the experimental uncertainty and hence only upper bounds are reported. At the higher IO conc. of 1% w/v, the specific adsorption was <1.1 mg-IO/m2 silica. In standard API brine, the % IO adsorbed was modestly higher than in DI water. The calculated specific adsorption in standard API brine at the highest IO conc. of 1% w/v was 1.0±2.1 mg/m2, which corresponds to a low 0.4% monolayer coverage of NPs. For comparison, a strongly adsorbing IO NP sample resulted in 48% IO adsorption in standard API brine at 0.103% w/v IO equilibrium concentration to give a specific adsorption value of 16.6 mg/m2 or 8.6% monolayer coverage.
The isotherm in
where kdes/kads is the ratio of the rate of desorption to the rate of adsorption (m−3), Mp is the mass of one nanoparticle (g), Ac is the adsorption capacity on the collector surface (g-IO/g-silica), and ρa is the specific surface area of silica (m2/g-silica). Using the specific surface area of the silica, Ac can be converted to (mg-IO/m2-silica). The specific adsorption capacity Ac was 0.9 mg-IO/m2-silica (or 0.4% monolayer) and the equilibrium constant (kdes/kads) 3.2×1017 m−3 (see
The very low adsorption for PAMPS-PAA grafted IO NPs suggests the well-solvated extended polymer chains on the surface provided steric stabilization with the silica surface. The chain extension again reflects high acidity and high hydrophilicity for the polymer with low Ca2+ affinity. Here only the particle surface contained polymer chains for steric repulsion, unlike the case of the interactions between two polymer coated nanoparticles. However, a single steric polymer layer provided sufficient repulsion in our case, in conjunction with the electrostatic repulsion with the anionic silica surface, to provide very low adsorption.
Relatively few studies have reported retention of nanoparticles on silica. For carboxymethyl cellulose (“CMC”) coated zero-valent iron (“ZVI”) NPs on quartz sand in 40 mM CaCl2, the specific retention was 8.4 mg/m2 at an injected concentration of 0.02% w/v iron in a flow study. The carboxylate group in CMC has high Ca affinity that decreases attractive segment-solvent, lowers chain extension, and weakens steric repulsion. Retention of highly-acidic triblock PMAA-PMMA-PSS copolymer stabilized ZVI NPs on silica sand was relatively low for 10 mM Na and 0.5 mM Ca, but the filtration length (to remove 99% of the particles) decreased by over an order of magnitude when these concentrations were raised to 100 and 5 mM, respectively.
In summary, the foregoing has demonstrated magnetic iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”), with permanently grafted acrylic acid-co-sulfonic acid random copolymers, were sterically stabilized at high salinities, even for temperatures up to 90° C. even after one month. A high 3:1 ratio of the stabilizer group, acrylamido-methyl-propane sulfonic acid (“AMPS”) to the acrylic acid (“AA”) anchor group provided sufficient chain solvation even in standard API brine). Simultaneously, the number of AA anchor groups provided sufficient multipoint grafting for permanent attachment upon 40,000 fold dilution, without reducing Ca2+ resistance. The pure PAMPS-PAA (without nanoparticles) binded weakly to calcium ions as characterized by DLS and electrophoretic mobility, as expected from NMR studies of PAMPS. Therefore, when grafted on the IO nanoparticles, the extended highly solvated chains provided steric stabilization of the nanoparticles and weak interactions with silica surfaces. The Langmuir adsorption capacity on silica was only 0.9 mg-IO/m2 even at the extreme standard API brine salinity. Neither the amine functionalization nor the grafting degraded the magnetic susceptibilities significantly. The stable IO dispersions with low adsorption on silica, even at extreme salinities and temperatures, are of great interest for enhancing nanoparticle transport through subsurface porous media to facilitate electromagnetic imaging of reservoirs.
In the following disclosed aspects of the present invention, a series of sulfonated random and block copolymers were adsorbed on the surface of ˜100 nm iron oxide (“IO”) nanoclusters to provide colloidal stability in standard API brine at 90° C. A combinatorial materials chemistry approach, which employed Ca2+-mediated adsorption of anionic acrylic acid-containing sulfonated polymers to pre-formed citrate-stabilized IO nanoclusters, enabled the investigation of a large number of polymer coatings. Initially, a series of poly(2-methyl-2-acrylamidopropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (“PAMPS-PAA”) (1:8 to 1:1 mol.:mol.), poly(styrenesulfonate-block-acrylic acid) (2.4:1 mol.:mol.), and poly(styrenesulfonate-alt-maleic acid) (3:1 mol.:mol.) copolymers were screened for solubility in standard API brine at 90° C. The ratio of AMPS to AA groups was varied to balance the requirement of colloid dispersibility at high salinity (provided by AMPS) against the need for anchoring of the polymers to the iron oxide surface (via the AA). IO NPs coated with PAMPS-PAA (1:1 mol.:mol.) exhibited colloidal stability in standard API brine at room temperature and 90° C., for up to one month. The particles were characterized before and after coating at ambient and elevated temperatures by a variety of techniques including colloidal stability experiments, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, and thermogravimetric analysis.
The stabilization of dispersions of ˜100 nm metal and metal oxide nanoparticles becomes highly challenging at electrolyte concentrations above ˜1 M. Even at the salinity of a typical biological medium of 0.15 M, nanoparticle dispersions that are stable in pure water occasionally flocculate. At low salinities small ligands, such as citrate, may be utilized to provide electrostatic repulsion over a relatively wide pH range. However, at 1 M ionic strength where the electric double layer thickness drops to a mere 0.3 nm, the electrostatic repulsion provided by small ligands becomes insufficient to overcome the longer-ranged attractive van der Waals (“vdW”) forces, as described by the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (“DLVO”) potential. At such high salinities, steric stabilization, which may be provided by polymer chains that extend from the surface, is often required to prevent flocculation. When charged polyelectrolytes are present on the particle surfaces, the stability can be further augmented by an electrosteric mechanism (combination of electrostatic and steric repulsion). As a model metal oxide colloid, aspects of the present invention focused on magnetic iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”), which are of interest in numerous applications including biomedicine, protein separation, water purification, and as contrast enhancement agents for imaging of subsurface oil/gas (hydrocarbon) reservoirs. A wide variety of polymers have been explored to stabilize IO dispersions at various salinities, including poly(ethylene glycol) (“PEG”), polyacrylamide (“PAM”), poly(acrylic acid) (“PAA”), PAA copolymers, and a variety of sulfonated copolymers.
For decades numerous studies have followed the concept presented by Napper that colloids coated with polymeric stabilizers flocculate under conditions (e.g., temperature, salinity, pH) similar to those that cause the pure polymer to phase separate in an aqueous medium. Flocculation and polymer phase separation each take place when the interactions between the polymer segments with the solvent are not strong enough relative to the segment-segment interactions. For polyelectrolytes, the solvation of the segments by the aqueous phase and the electrostatic repulsion between polymer segments are favored by dissociation of counterions. These interactions are less favorable at high salinities as the double layer thickness decreases. Furthermore, although monovalent ions such as Na+ and K+ do not bind strongly to anionic polyacrylate ions, divalent ions such as Ca2+ bind specifically and may induce gelation, as shown by solution behavior, NMR studies, and calorimetry. However, the binding constant for Ca2+ is weaker when the acrylate groups are positioned further from the polymer backbone and even weaker for strongly acidic sulfonated polymers. For example, while poly(vinylsulfonic acid) (“PVS”) with short side chains clouded in aqueous CaCl2 at 100° C., poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (“PSS”) and poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate) (“PAMPS”) remained soluble. Therefore, choice of the proper polymer composition by phase behavior studies at high salinity and temperature is expected to facilitate rapid screening of potential candidates for colloidal stabilization.
Various studies have examined steric stabilization of nanoparticles in salt solutions using relatively low MW non-ionic polymers, especially PEG, for cores smaller than 10 nm, where vdW forces are much more easily overcome. The cloud point temperature of PEG, above which it precipitates, decreases with MW and salinity, and thus it is most effective at very low MWs. CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (8.4 nm) and IO NPs (9.6 nm) synthesized with oleic acid ligands followed by coating with amphiphilic PEG on individual NPs led to stability in 1 M and 2 M NaCl, respectively. Phosphonate-terminated PEG (EO=10) was adsorbed on naked 7 nm ceria and 7.1 nm maghemite NPs for stability in 1 M NaCl. Ligand exchange with catechol-terminated PEG (EO=14-17) led to stable dispersions of Au NPs (10 nm) and CdSe/ZnS QDs (˜10 nm) in 2 M NaCl, and IO NPs (11 nm) in 1M NaCl. Other non-ionic polymer stabilizing groups investigated for IO NPs (6-8 nm) include polyacrylamide, which imparted stability in 2 M NaCl and saturated NH4NO3.
Although non-ionic polymers are capable of stabilizing small NPs, polyelectrolytes are needed to provide electrosteric stabilization to overcome the stronger vdW forces present when the NP core diameters approach 100 nm. Relative to studies at electrolyte concentrations of 0.15 M or below, few studies have considered NP dispersions at higher salinities with either strong or weak polyelectrolyte stabilizers. To explore the mechanism of electrosteric stabilization, latex particles (˜50 nm) grafted with polymethacrylic acid (“PMAA”) were studied over a wide range of pH, salinity and grafting density using dynamic light scattering, electrophilic mobility, and rheology at salt concentrations up to 3.5 M NaCl. The excess osmotic pressure produced by the overlap of the polyelectrolyte chains was the primary contribution to the electrosteric stabilization. Remarkably, ˜100 nm IO nanoclusters were stabilized in up to 5 M NaCl with copolymers composed of acrylic acid, styrene sulfonic acid, and vinyl sulfonic acid. The critical flocculation salinity for the NPs was correlated and described in terms of the particle size and copolymer composition, as well as the role of the stabilizer during synthesis of the IO. Similarly, IO NPs synthesized in the presence of poly(styrene-alt-maleic acid) were stable in 8% NaCl (1.4 M NaCl).
While relatively few ˜100 nm particles are dispersible in concentrated NaCl, reports that demonstrate stability with high divalent salt concentrations (>0.1 M), either with or without other salts such as NaCl, are even more rare. Divalent ions, such as Ca2+, not only contribute to higher ionic strength than monovalent ions (i.e., the Schulze-Hardy rule), but also cause aggregation by specific binding, especially with anionic polyelectrolytes, for example carboxylates. However, such high Ca2+ levels are often encountered in natural subsurface reservoirs of interest in oil recovery, and there is therefore a need for colloids that maintain stability under such conditions. In one example, poly(glycerol monoacrylate) (“PGA”) copolymers were synthesized and coated on 8 nm IO particles with a reported stability in 10% (or 0.9 M) CaCl2. Additionally, transport of ˜50 nm zero valent Fe NPs stabilized by an adsorbed poly(methacrylic acid-block-methylmethacrylate-block-styrenesulfonate) terpolymer was studied in 0.32 M CaCl2, however neither of these reports provided explicit information on how long the particles were stable, and the former used relatively small NPs.
A further challenge is the colloidal stabilization of NPs at elevated temperatures encountered in subsurface reservoirs up to 100° C. and beyond in addition to high salinity. Examples of such colloids are quite scarce in the literature, especially at high ionic strengths and when concentrated divalent ions are present. Yu et al. reported the stability of 8.4 nm CdSe quantum dots at up to 70° C. for 3 hours in 1 M NaCl and over a range of pH values (pH 4-10). Additionally, Amstad et al. demonstrated IO NP stability at 90° C. for 20 hours in phosphate buffered saline (0.15 M). Thus, it remains a significant challenge to design polymer coatings that can stabilize nanoparticles at high divalent salinity and elevated temperature. Given that sulfonated polymers such as PAMPS and PSS have been shown to be soluble in relatively concentrated solutions of divalent salts at elevated temperature, it was determined that such polymers with their highly acidic nature would be promising candidates to stabilize nanoparticle dispersions under similar conditions.
Since polymers that are good stabilizers in brine, such as PSS and PAMPS, interact weakly with multivalent cations including Fe, they also are expected to adsorb weakly on the surfaces of iron oxide nanoparticles. Therefore, to synthesize IO NPs coated with such polymers, anchor groups that bind strongly to Fe (e.g., acrylic acid) are incorporated into the polymer structure. However, given that the anchor group often interacts strongly with the dissolved divalent ions, leading to flocculation, the correct ratio of anchor groups to stabilizing groups was determined in order to strike a balance between sufficient polymer adsorption on the NPs and nanoparticle dispersiblity. Furthermore, adsorption of a modest amount of low to medium MW polymer on IO NPs does not significantly lower the magnetic weight fraction. Copolymers with sulfonate groups and carboxylate groups may be adsorbed on IO NPs during nucleation and growth of the NPs upon hydrolysis of various Fe precursors. However, the IO NP morphology and magnetic properties change with polymer structure, which influences nucleation, growth, and stabilization of the growing particles. Thus, techniques were created to examine a variety of polymer stabilizers with varying functionality and molecular weights, without perturbing the properties of the iron oxide cores.
Disclosed herein is the development of random and block copolymer coatings on the surface of ˜100 nm IO nanoclusters, which provided colloidal stability in standard API brine and at an elevated temperature of 90° C. A combinatorial materials chemistry approach was employed, which enabled the investigation of a large number of polymers on a given type of IO nanocluster. Only copolymers that were first found to be soluble in standard API brine at 90° C. were considered as stabilizers. In this approach the synthesis of the IO nanoparticles was completely separated from the process of adsorption of copolymer on the nanoparticle surface. Well-defined citrate-coated IO nanoparticles with a fixed hydrodynamic diameter (DH) of 50 nm were developed, and a homologous series of poly(2-methyl-2-acrylamidopropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (“PAMPS-PAA”) copolymers were adsorbed to provide electrosteric stabilization. The ratio of AMPS to AA groups was varied from 1:8 to 1:1 to determine how to balance the requirement of colloid dispersibility at high salinity (provided by AMPS) against the need for anchoring of the polymers to the iron oxide surface (via the AA). In addition, a sulfonated block copolymer, poly(styrenesulfonate-block-acrylic acid) (“PSS-b-PAA”), and a sulfonated alternating copolymer, poly(styrenesulfonate-alt-maleic acid) (“PSS-alt-PMA”), were also investigated as a stabilizer. The adsorption of the aforementioned polymers on iron oxide was controlled by a judicious balance of pH, type and concentration of electrolyte, and concentration of polymer. In particular, the adsorption was enhanced markedly by bridging of the carboxylate anchor groups to the like-charged citrate ligands on the IO nanoclusters with Ca2+. The success in coating of the polymer stabilizers on iron oxide was assessed by (i) colloidal stability in standard API brine at room temperature and 90° C., for up to one month, (ii) measurement of DH in standard API brine at ambient and elevated temperatures, (iii) zeta potential measurements over a range of salinities, and (iv) quantification of the organic content by thermogravimetric analysis (“TGA”). Furthermore, the critical coagulation concentrations of PAMPS-PAA coated IO in NaCl and CaCl2 were determined by dispersing IO NPs in up to 20% wt. NaCl (3.4 M) and 20% wt. CaCl2 (1.8 M), respectively.
The reagents iron(II) chloride tetrahydrate, iron (III) chloride hexahydrate, citric acid monohydrate, 30% ammonium hydroxide, poly(styrenesulfonate)-70 kDa, poly(acrylamide)-co-(acrylic acid) (1:3)-200 kDa, poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl propanesulfonic acid)-2 MDa, poly(acrylic acid sodium salt) (2 kDa), and poly(styrenesulfonic acid-alt-maleic acid) sodium salt-20 kDa were commercially obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. Aquatreat 546 (PAMPS-PAA 1:6) was commercially obtained from Akzo Nobel. Flosperse 9037 CS (PAMPS-PAA 1:4) and Flosperse 9024 CS (PAMPS-PAA 1:8) were commercially obtained from SNF. Calcium chloride dihydrate, sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, and sodium hydroxide were obtained from commercial sources and used as received. The monomers t-butyl acrylate (“tBA”) and styrene were purchased from commercial sources and filtered through a short plug of basic alumina to remove the 4-methoxyphenol (“MEHQ”) stabilizer, and were degassed by bubbling with dry nitrogen for 15 minutes prior to use. N,N,N′,N′,N-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate, acrylic acid, potassium persulfate, and sodium metabisulfite were obtained from commercial sources and used as received. The monomer 2-amino-2-methylpropanesulfonate (“AMPS”) was commercially obtained from Lubrizol Corporation and used as received. Deionized water from a Barnstead Nanopure system was used for experiments.
Synthesis of poly(2-acrylamido-3-methylpropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (“PAMPS-PAA”): Generally, a three-necked round bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar, a nitrogen inlet, and a reflux condenser was charged with AMPS monomer, potassium persulfate, and sodium metabisulfite under an atmosphere of nitrogen. The flask was sealed with rubber septa and deionized water that was previously degassed by bubbling with nitrogen for 30 minutes was added via a nitrogen-purged syringe or a cannula to the reaction flask, such that the concentration of AMPS monomer was 1.0 M. With stirring, acrylic acid was added to the reaction flask via a nitrogen-purged syringe. The flask was placed in an oil bath and stirred at 80° C. for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and the water was removed under reduced pressure. The resulting white solid was dried under reduced pressure until a constant mass was reached.
Synthesis of poly(t-butyl acrylate)-block-(styrene) (“PtBA-b-PS”): Under an atmosphere of nitrogen, an oven-dried 50 mL Schlenk flask with a magnetic stir bar was charged with 300 mg (2.1 mmol) of copper(I) bromide. The flask was sealed with a rubber septum secured with copper wire and was evacuated and back-filled with nitrogen three times before 5 mL (34.1 mmol) of tert-butyl acrylate was added via a gas-tight syringe that had been purged with nitrogen. After one freeze-pump-thaw cycle, 0.5 mL (2.4 mmol) of N,N,N′,N′,N-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine was added via a nitrogen-purged gas-tight syringe. After a second freeze-pump-thaw cycle, 0.1 mL (0.68 mmol) of ethyl-2-bromoisobutyrate was added via a gas-tight syringe that had been purged with nitrogen. After two more freeze-pump-thaw cycles, the reaction mixture was allowed to return to ambient temperature, and the reaction flask was backfilled with nitrogen and placed in an oil bath at 50° C. The reaction mixture was allowed to stir for 3 hours at the same temperature, after which an aliquot was removed from the reaction and analyzed by GPC (Mn=5,500, Mw/Mn=1.15) prior to addition of 7.4 mL (64.5 mmol) of styrene. The reaction mixture was allowed to stir for a further 18 hours at 50° C., then was cooled to room temperature. The mixture was then taken up into THF and passed through a plug of neutral alumina to remove the metal/ligand catalyst system. The resulting polymer solution was concentrated and purified by precipitation into a mixture of methanol and water (1/1, v/v).
Synthesis of poly(sytrenesulfonate-b-acrylic acid) (“PSS170-b-PAA70”): A 1 L round bottom flask was charged with PtBA-PS (prepared as per above) dissolved in 300 mL of chloroform. In a separate flask with a stir bar, a solution of 66 mL of acetic anhydride in 100 mL of chloroform was cooled to 0° C. Concentrated sulfuric acid (37 mL) was added dropwise, and the mixture was stirred at 0° C. for an additional 10 minutes before it was added to the flask containing the polymer solution. The reaction mixture was heated to 60° C. and stirred for 16 hours, then was cooled to room temperature and slowly poured into methanol. The solution was neutralized by slow addition of 3.0 M NaOH, and the organic solvents were removed under reduced pressure. The resulting aqueous solution was loaded into dialysis tubing and dialyzed against DI water for 3 days. After dialysis, the desired polymer was isolated as an orange glassy solid by concentration and drying under reduced pressure (11.0 g, 46% yield over 2 steps).
Synthesis of citrate-coated IO nanoclusters: Citrate-coated iron oxide nanoclusters were prepared by a coprecipitation of Fe(II) and Fe(III) chlorides in an alkaline solution. Briefly, a mixture of 0.86 g FeCl2 and 2.35 g FeCl3 (1:2 molar ratio) and 0.05 g of citric acid were dissolved in 40 mL DI water. The solution was magnetically stirred for 10 minutes under ambient atmosphere. The mixture was heated to 90° C. while stirring, and 10 mL of 30% wt. aqueous NH4OH solution was injected to nucleate the iron oxide nanoparticles (“NPs”). The NP growth was continued for 2 hours at 90° C. The mixture was then cooled to room temperature, centrifuged, and dispersed in 20 mL of DI water with a Branson probe sonication microtip. These particles were termed as “low Cit-IO.” After separating the particles again (6000 g, 10 minutes), additional citrate groups were introduced by probe sonication of the pellet in 20 mL of citric acid solution (20 mg/ml, pH 5) for 15 minutes. Upon removal of large aggregates (7000 g, 10 minutes), the supernatant was centrifuged at 10000 g for 20 minutes to recover a pellet of citrate-stabilized IO nanoclusters that were dispersed in 25 mL of DI water. The final dispersion contained ˜2.5-3% wt. IO, as observed by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (“FAAS”) suggesting a IO yield of ˜60-70%. These IO nanoclusters with the higher citrate level were the primary platform particles for the coating experiments.
Polymer coating of citrate-IO nanoclusters: Polymer coating on platform IO clusters was performed by preparation of polymer solution at pH 7, followed by addition of 20% wt. CaCl2 solution, dilution with DI water, and then addition of the IO cluster stock solution. With the exception of a few specified cases, the citrate-coated IO nanoclusters with the higher citrate level were used. Most commonly, the final concentrations after mixing were 1% wt. IO, 5% wt. polymer, and 5% wt. CaCl2, although these concentrations were varied, as reported herein. Upon mixing the solutions, flocculated particles formed and were suspended while stirring. After adjusting the pH to 7, the mixture was transferred to a water bath and kept at 90° C. for 1 hour. After cooling to room temperature, the coated NPs were separated by centrifugation, washed twice with DI water to remove excess polymer and CaCl2, and redispersed in DI water by probe sonication to reach a final IO concentration of ˜2% wt. The IO yield after coating ranged from 70-90%.
Phase behavior of sulfonated copolymers: Solutions of the various copolymers (2% wt.) in standard API brine at pH 8 were sealed in glass vials with Teflon tape and set in an oven at 90° C. The solutions were observed visually for cloudiness/phase separation after a day.
Colloidal stability of polymer-coated IO nanoclusters: The colloidal stability was tested by mixing stock solutions of NaCl (20% wt.), CaCl2 (20% wt.), DI water, and polymer-coated IO clusters to achieve a 0.2% wt. IO dispersion in standard API brine. The colloidal stability was assessed by visual observation and DLS measurements at room temperature and 90° C. For long term stability tests in standard API brine at 90° C., the solutions were sealed in glass pipettes with a butane torch. Pipettes were digitally photographed and sacrificed periodically to measure the DH.
Polymer phase behavior and hydrodynamic diameter (DH): Building on the high solubility of PAMPS and PSS in CaCl2 at 100° C., various compositions of commercial and synthesized copolymers of PAMPS and PAA (“PAMPS-PAA”) and PSS and PAA (“PSS-PAA”) were identified as candidates for stabilization of IO clusters in standard API brine at room temperature and 90° C. It was determined that the PAA groups would allow for adsorption on the IO surface, and that the PAMPS and PSS groups would provide stability in high salinity via electrosteric stabilization. A systematic combinatorial materials chemistry scheme was developed to maximize adaptability for successful stabilization of particles in standard API brine.
Initially, a series of polymer phase behavior studies were conducted with a variety of sulfonated copolymers composed of the units shown in
The phase behavior of polymers (2% wt.) was studied in standard API brine at 25° C. and 90° C. (see Table 11). The results for the copolymers may be placed in perspective in terms of the interactions of each of the sulfonate and carboxylate groups with Ca2+. With the exception of PAMPS-PAA (1:8), all investigated polymers were soluble under these conditions, which was consistent with previous phase behavior studies of related copolymers. The cloudy appearance for the PAMPS-PAA (1:8) may be attributed to the high acrylic acid content, as the carboxylate groups interact strongly with Ca2+. As is well known for PAA homopolymer (2% wt., 2 kDa) in divalent salts, in standard API brine, clouding was observed at both room temperature and 90° C. Isothermal calorimetry studies have shown that association of PAA to Ca2+ is an endothermic process, despite the fact that the electrostatic contribution is attractive. The favorable binding was found to be driven almost purely by entropic changes due to release of water of hydration from COO− and Ca2+. Additionally, it is likely that the polarity of the polyelectrolyte backbone plays an important role in maintaining the solubility of the polymer in the presence of calcium salts. For example, the strong Ca2+ binding of PAA via dehydration of the Ca2+ and COO− groups results in the formation of a hydrophobic PAA-Ca2+ due to the carbonic PAA backbone, leading to precipitation of the Ca2+ bound polymer. In contrast, polyaspartate (“PAsp”) which contains a hydrophilic amide backbone, does not collapse in the presence of Ca2+, due to both reduced Ca2+ binding and the more hydrophilic nature of the resulting Ca2+-PAsp complex. It is likely that the hydrophilic amide bond in the AMPS structure (see
Polymer adsorption on iron oxide surface: The copolymers were first adsorbed directly on the citrate-coated IO nanoclusters. The acrylate functionalities are well known to form moderately strong charge transfer complexes with the Fe cations on the iron oxide surface that are not covered with citrate ligands. Since the acid dissociation constant, pKa, of the acrylic acid groups is 4.6, all attempts to adsorb copolymers on IO NPs were conducted at pH 7, at which a significant fraction of acrylic acid groups would be deprotonated. An excess of polymer (five fold greater than IO conc. in % wt.) was used to provide a sufficient driving force for polymer adsorption. Initially, it was determined that the adsorption levels of the copolymers on the iron oxide were quite low (˜8% by weight by TGA) as described below. Thus, a process was developed as shown in
A plot of the organic content observed by TGA against the molar ratio of Ca2+ to acrylic acid content of polymer (PAMPS-PAA (1:6)) is shown in
Interestingly, for the same [Ca2+]/[COO−]poly ratio, the amount of adsorbed polymer was higher for the IO with the higher citrate density (see plots (i) and (ii) in
The concept of adsorbing polymers using Ca2+ bridging was extended to a wide variety of PAMPS-PAA copolymers (see Table 12) in addition to PAMPS-PAA (1:6). By varying the polymer and CaCl2 concentrations when PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-212 was used as a coating, adsorption of 16%-22% wt. organic material was observed, and led to stability in standard API brine. Eventually, when the organic content was reduced to 14%, the resulting dispersion was no longer stable. Under the same coating conditions (5% wt. polymer, 1% wt. iron oxide, and 5% wt. CaCl2) but with a lower MW PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-52, the organic content reached 25%, and stable dispersions were again formed. When a polymer of intermediate composition was used, PAMPS-PAA (1:4), an organic content of 21% wt. was sufficient to provide colloidal stability in standard API brine after application of the standard coating concentrations. However, when no Ca2+ was added, the polymer loading was again low and the particles did not form a stable dispersion, as was observed for the PAMPS-PAA (1:6) coating.
For a given coating condition (5% polymer, 1% IO, 5% CaCl2) the amount of adsorbed polymer was expected to depend on the monomer ratio [COO−]/[SO3−] as well as the chain DH (or the degree of polymerization) (see Table 11), which together dictate the number of acrylic acid attachment groups per polymer chain. As seen from Table 12, both PAMPS-PAA (1:1) polymers displayed lower adsorption (22% and 25% wt. organics) in comparison to PAMPS-PAA (1:6) (29% wt.). The PAMPS-PAA (1:4) exhibited even lower polymer adsorption (21% wt.) than the PAMPS-PAA (1:1) copolymers despite its greater [COO−]/[SO3−] ratio. However, with its small DH the number of available COO− groups per chain of PAMPS-PAA (1:4) was the lowest among all of the polymers investigated and therefore the polymer likely did not have enough attachment sites for favorable polymer adsorption.
In addition to PAMPS-PAA copolymers, the effect of monomer structure as well as backbone architecture was investigated using copolymers containing PSS. Table 13 summarizes the coating studies with a block copolymer PSS-b-PAA that was adsorbed onto low-citrate IO clusters.
Adsorption in the absence of CaCl2 did not increase the surface organic content and unsurprisingly did not result in stabilized cluster dispersions. Similarly, when an insufficient amount of polymer (0.2% wt.) was added during the coating process, the resulting particles were unstable in standard API brine. However, conducting the coating with higher PSS-b-PAA concentrations (0.5% and 2%) and the addition of 5% wt. CaCl2 led to colloidal stability in standard API brine with 15% organic content adsorbed on the surface. When a commercial alternating copolymer poly(styrenesulfonate-alt-maleic acid) (“PSS-alt-PMA”) was used as the coating, the dispersions were always unstable in standard API brine, despite a reasonable organic content (24%). The observed instability with the PSS-alt-PMA coating was likely due to the phase behavior of maleic acid, which is more sensitive than acrylic acid to the presence of mono- and divalent-cations as it is capable of chelation and thus displays a higher cation binding affinity.
The strength of the Ca2+-mediated adsorption was tested by dispersing IO clusters in concentrated NaCl brine, without any free Ca2+ ions in the solution, to determine if the polymer remained adsorbed on the nanocluster surface. It was hypothesized that the high concentration of Na+ ions may weaken the Ca2+ bridging with carboxylates that holds the polymer onto the particle surface. Remarkably, as shown in
Properties of dispersions at high salinity: To gain further insight into the structural properties and colloidal stability of the synthesized IO NPs, their DH's and zeta potentials were measured after coating under the standard condition (5% polymer, 1% IO, and 5% CaCl2), and are presented in Table 14.
Table 14 is a summary of the colloidal properties of citrate IO clusters coated with PAMPS-PAA in aqueous media at room temperature. All listed PAMPS-PAA were adsorbed on IO under standard conditions: 5% wt. CaCl2, 5% wt. polymer and 1% wt. IO at pH 7, 90° C. for 60 minutes.
In DI water, the DH of the clusters always increased significantly after polymer adsorption (see Table 12 and Table 14). The observed increase in DH was greater than the polymer DH (see Table 11) and indicated that aggregation of the IO clusters occurred during the coating process. Given that only van der Waals forces hold the clusters together, the clusters are dynamic and the sizes may vary when these forces are perturbed by interactions with the polymer. For example, polymer stabilizers have been shown to have a large influence on the size of Au nanoclusters. The change in size may also reflect Ostwald ripening, rearrangement of primary particles or even modest aggregation of individual clusters.
Despite the significant increase in DH after polymer coating, the change in DH observed when the particles were dispersed in brine instead of DI water was relatively small, essentially within experimental error.
Thus, the adsorbed polymers provided excellent stabilization against aggregation with an increase in salinity. As expected due to differences in polymer size, the measured DH was significantly smaller for the PAMPS-PAA (1:1) 52 kDa than for the corresponding 212 kDa polymer. According to the TEM images in
The zeta potentials (measured in dilute KCl at pH 8) of all the polymer-coated IO clusters were measured to be between ζ=−36 and −42 mV, and were consistent with previously reported values for similar IO clusters, with the exception of PAMPS-PAA (1:1)-52, which was slightly less negative (ζ=−25 mV). Referring to
Referring to
Mechanism of stabilization in high salinity: Given the extremely thin Debye length of 0.23 nm in standard API brine, the screened charge on the surface of the iron oxide cores was not expected to provide sufficient electrostatic repulsion to counter the van der Waals attraction between cores. Therefore, the stable colloid dispersions were a result of the electrosteric repulsion of the polyelectrolytes on the particle surfaces. An expression for the electrostatic component (VES) of the repulsion between two polyelectrolyte-coated spheres has been reported by Ohshima using Derjaguin's approximation as shown in Equation 4:
where H is the interparticle distance, which can fall below zero when the soft polyelectrolyte layers of two adjacent particles penetrate each other. The steric component (VOsm) (see Equation 5) of the repulsion from the increase in osmotic pressure due to overlapping polymer segments has been modeled with the following expressions:
where χ is the Flory-Huggins solvency parameter, φp is the polymer volume fraction within the polyelectrolyte layer, and ν is the volume of one solvent molecule. When the polyelectrolyte is in its extended conformation (χ<½) in a good solvent, the electrosteric stabilization provided by the polymer has been shown to prevent aggregation, as shown by a study using latex particles grafted with PMAA in 3.5 M NaCl. However, divalent ions bind strongly to PAA and can cause intrapolymer collapse, aggregation, and loss of electrosteric repulsion.
The stability of the PAMPS-PAA coated IOs even in the presence of Ca2+ (standard API brine) is likely due to the high solubility of the hydrophilic PAMPS component in high CaCl2 solutions. The classic concept of Napper is that stability of polymer-coated colloids, namely the critical flocculation temperature or salinity may be correlated with the phase behavior of the polymer. Therefore, the PAMPS-PAA copolymers that were found to be soluble in standard API brine also provided colloidal stability of IO nanoclusters when adsorbed at sufficient surface coverages. The low Ca2+ binding affinity of AMPS prevents intrapolymer collapse, and translates to an extended conformation of PAMPS copolymers on particles (χ<½), which allows for electrosteric stabilization of the IOs in standard API brine. As discussed earlier, the strong acidity of the AMPS group, the greater conformational freedom from the relatively longer side chain and the hydrophillicity of AMPS (due to amide group) contribute to its high tolerance to precipitation in the presence of calcium ions.
Having demonstrated the stability of the IO NPs in standard API brine, efforts were directed towards testing the persistence of the same dispersions in extremely high NaCl and CaCl2 concentrations (up to 20% wt.). Referring to
When analogous studies (see
The IO particles coated with PAA precipitated at both pH values and at all tested CaCl2 concentrations, as expected, given the high binding affinity of PAA for Ca2+. However, referring to
Referring to
High temperature stability in standard API brine: Given that the sulfonated copolymers could be adsorbed onto IO NPs to provide room temperature stability in standard API brine and higher CaCl2 and NaCl brines, efforts shifted towards testing the dispersion stability in standard API brine at elevated temperatures. As shown in
As previously discussed, the association of polyacrylic acid to Ca2+ is an entropically driven process due to release of water of hydration. Therefore, it is not surprising that with an increase in temperature, the entropy driven association of acrylic acid to Ca2+ also increases, causing precipitation of particles coated with PAA-containing polymers. As such, the coatings with higher AA content such as PAMPS-PAA (1:6) and PAMPS-PAA (1:4) were more prone to causing particle precipitation at higher temperatures due to intraparticle polymer collapse and interparticle Ca2+ bridging. The increased stability of the PAMPS-PAA (1:1) IOs relative to the PAMPS-PAA (1:6) IOs is largely due to the higher AMPS content. The high temperature solubility of AMPS in CaCl2 ensured extended polymer conformation for stabilization. Furthermore, referring to
In summary, the foregoing shows the colloidal stability of ˜100 nm iron oxide clusters in standard API brine at 90° C. for 1 month was achieved with a sufficient level of poly(2-methyl-2-acrylamidopropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (PAMPS-PAA 1:1) copolymer adsorbed on the surface to provide electrosteric stabilization. The stabilization was favored by the high ratio of AMPS, which has a low binding affinity for Ca2+ at high temperatures, as shown by reported NMR studies due to its strong acidity and hydrophilic nature. Steric and electrosteric stabilization were also present for dispersions at room temperature in even higher salinities (up to 20% wt. CaCl2 and 20% wt. NaCl), even with very thin double layers. When coated with polymers having lower AMPS ratios (PAMPS:PAA=1:6 and 1:4), the IO clusters remained stable in standard API brine at room temperature, but aggregated at 90° C. Here, the interchain interactions mediated by Ca2+ between AA groups caused aggregation, given an insufficient content of Ca2+ resistant sulfonate groups, and the entropy favored AA-Ca2+ association. For the wide variety of systems studied, established are guidelines on the amount of adsorbed polymer required to provide stabilization against the attractive van der Waal's forces between large (˜50-90 nm) iron oxide cores as a function of copolymer structure and MW.
Additionally, demonstrated is a methodology to provide a temporary driving force for achieving a high level of adsorption of anionic copolymers on anionic metal oxide surfaces by addition of Ca2+, which promotes attraction between carboxylate functionalities. This methodology enabled an efficient combinatorial materials chemistry approach to facilitate the investigation of a large number of copolymers on a given type of IO nanoclusters, by separating the nanoparticle synthesis process from the coating process. This combinatorial approach offered a solution to the multi-faceted challenge of identifying optimized copolymer stabilizers for electrosteric stabilization on a pre-designed nanoparticle core with desired function (for example, magnetic properties). This approach may be extended to a wide variety of nanoparticles and polymer stabilizers relevant to a wide variety of practical applications, including the design of magnetic nanoparticles for subsurface imaging.
Aspects of the present invention also have the ability to alter the wettability of the porous (i.e., rock, silica, reservoir, etc.) surface by adsorbing the magnetic nanoparticle (i.e., one or more magnetic metal or metal oxide nanoparticles with a polymer grafted to the surface) to enhance or modify the recovery of oil. The magnetic nanoparticle may be modified to tune the adsorption in the high salinity brine. Tuned adsorption of PAMPS-PAA adsorbed iron oxide nanoparticles on silica by modification with a range of amines with varying molecular weights and hydrophobicity, which facilitate rock wettability for imaging and enhanced oil recovery.
The polymer comprises a random copolymer, wherein the polymer comprises a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group. The anchoring group may be acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate, or N-acryloylalanine, or a combination thereof. The stabilizing group may be 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, or 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate, or a combination thereof. The polymer may also include a betaine monomer.
Aspects of the present invention provide series of poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid-co-acrylic acid) (“poly(AMPS-co-AA)”) random copolymers grafted onto iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”) to provide colloidal stability in standard API brine. In addition to their remarkable stability in standard API brine, low adsorption/retention in static batch adsorption on silica microspheres in standard API brine and dynamic flow experiments was also observed. A combinatorial approach, which employed grafting poly(AMPS-co-AA) with wide ranges of compositions onto platform amine-functionalized IO NPs via a 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbondiimidecarbondiimide (“EDC”) catalyzed amidation, was used to screen a large number of polymeric coatings. The ratio of AMPS:AA was varied from 1:1 to 20:1 to balance the requirement of colloidal stabilization, low adsorption/retention (provided by 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (“AMPS”)), and permanent attachment of stabilizer (provided by acrylic acid (“AA”)). Further, batch adsorption was used as a quick screening test for 1D column flow experiments. Correlations of batch adsorption and flow experiments were observed. The role of divalent Ca2+ mediated bridging of NPs with adsorbent and hydrophobic interactions in contributing to adsorption/retention in standard API brine in both the static batch adsorption and dynamic flow tests was confirmed. This rapid, high throughput combinatorial approach of grafting and screening (via batch adsorption) allowed for the development of NPs for transport in various porous media.
Aspects of the present invention provide magnetic iron oxide (“IO”) nanoparticles (“NPs”) that are stable in standard API brine for subsurface oil field applications. Although a large amount of NPs stabilizers have been developed for moderate conditions, the harsh environment of oil reservoirs (high salinities (>1 M), presence of divalent salts (Ca2+ and Mg2+), and high temperature (−150° C.)) may be expected to lead to NP aggregation and adsorption on mineral surfaces, which would ultimately hinder the transport of the NPs through hydrocarbon-bearing formations.
Aspects of the present invention provide stabilizing IO NPs by grafting random copolymers of poly-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (“PAMPS”) and poly(acrylic acid) (“PAA”), which serve as stabilizer and anchoring groups, respectively. The grafting of the AMPS AA copolymer (poly(AMPS-co-AA)), was achieved by coating the IO NPs with amino propyltriethoxy silane (“APTES”), followed by grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA), via a 1-ethyl-3-(-3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (“EDC”) catalyzed amidation reaction with amine-coated IO NPs and the AA anchoring groups on the copolymer.
Aspects of the present invention provide screening that results in higher electrostatic attraction between the poly(AMPS-co-AA)-coated IO NPs and test adsorption material. In addition to electrostatic attraction, the EDC-catalyzed amidation reaction results in an isourea byproduct, which also hydrogen bond to the poly(AMPS-co-AA)-coated IO NPs. An option is to drive the amidation reactions using an acid catalyzed reaction at 90° C. to eliminate the possible effects that residual EDC plays on adsorption to silica microspheres. Aspects of the present invention provide a simplified amidation reaction and include a lower adsorption of the nanoparticles on silica microspheres by an order of magnitude and to show this enhanced transport of the nanoparticle through porous media (e.g., Ottawa sand).
Aspects of the present invention utilized a “grafting through” technique to covalently tether PAMPS to the surfaces of IO NPs. Vinyl groups were covalently attached to the amine-functionalized IO NPs, and was followed by performing free radical polymerization of AMPS monomers in the presence of the vinyl-coated IO NPs. The mechanism of the “grafting through” technique allows for propagating polymers (PAMPS) to graft to the vinyl groups on the surface of the particle. This was done so that the amount of polymer could effectively be controlled in order to study the adsorption versus polymer content. It was found that ultra-low adsorption using the previously disclosed batch adsorption test could be achieved.
Aspects of the present invention also provide polymer grafted iron oxide materials for the stabilization of emulsions, which is a novel application of particle stabilized emulsions. Aspects of the present invention provide the stabilization of oil-in-water emulsions with poly(oligo(ethyleneoxide)monomethyl ether methacrylate)-grafted iron oxide particle clusters (“IO-POEOMA”) at ultra-low concentrations. The utilization of different aqueous phases with varying salinities shows the salt-tolerance of the POEOMA polymer.
Iron(II) chloride tetrahydrate, iron(III) chloride hexahydrate, citric acid monohydrate, 30% ammonium hydroxide, APTES, glacial acetic acid, calcium chloride dehydrate, sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, EDC, AA, potassium persulfate, and sodium metabisulfite were obtained from commercial sources and used as received. The AMPS monomer was commercially obtained from the Lubrizol Corporation and used as received. Uniform 8 μm silica microspheres with the trade name AngstromSphere Monodispersed Silica Powder (Catalog #SIO2P800-01-1KG) were commercially obtained from Fiber Optic Inc., New Bedford, Mass., USA, washed at least five times at pH 8 with DI water and dried at 80° C. in a convection oven before use. These particles are naked silica particles and have a large quantity of silanol groups as reported by the manufacturer. Dodecane was obtained from commercial sources and purified with alumina columns until the surface tension with DI water was 52.8±0.01 mN.
Synthesis of poly(2-acrylamido-3-methylpropanesulfonate-coacrylicacid) (“poly(AMPS-co-AA)”) 1:1, 3:1, 5:1, 10:1, and 20:1): A three-necked round-bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar, a nitrogen inlet, and a reflux condenser was charged with 18.5 g (0.09 mol), 30.9 g (0.135 mol), 30.9 g (0.149 mol), 33.7 g (0.16 mol), and 35.3 g (0.17 mol) of AMPS monomer for the 1:1, 3:1, 5:1, 10:1, and 20:1 systems, respectively, 4.86 g (0.018 mol) of potassium persulfate, and 3.42 g (0.018 mol) of sodium metabisulfite under an atmosphere of nitrogen. The flask was sealed with a rubber septum and 180 mL of deionized water that was previously degassed by bubbling with nitrogen for 30 minutes was added via a cannula to the reaction flask. With stirring, 6.14 ml (0.09 mol), 3.0 mL (0.044 mol), 2.05 ml (0.03 mol), 1.11 ml (0.16 mol), and 0.58 ml (0.01 mol) of acrylic acid was added to the reaction flask via a nitrogen-purged syringe for the 1:1, 3:1, 5:1,10:1, or 20:1 systems, respectively. The total monomer concentration at the start of the reaction was 1.0 M. The flask was placed in an oil bath thermostatted at 80° C. and stirred at that temperature under nitrogen for 16 hours.
Synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (IO NPs): IO NPs were prepared by the Massart approach of aqueous co-precipitation of iron chlorides in presence of alkaline. A 1 L three-neck flask was charged with 8.6 g ferrous(II) chloride tetrahydrate and 23.48 g ferric(III) chloride hexahydrate to give the stoichiometric ratio of Fe(II):Fe(III)=1:2. The mixture of iron precursors was dissolved in 400 mL DI water together with 0.5 g citric acid monohydrate. The solution was degassed with N2 and heated to 90° C. with magnetic stirring followed by quick injection of 100 mL 30% wt. aqueous NH4OH solution to facilitate hydrolysis and condensation of iron precursors. Black precipitate was formed immediately, and annealing of IO particles was continued at 90° C. for 2 hours under a N2 atmosphere. The reaction mixture was then cooled to room temperature and washed with 500 mL DI water twice with magnetic decantation. A 0.5 T magnet (Eclipse Magnetics, catalog # N426) was used to collect the as-synthesized IO NPs, and the clear supernatant was carefully discarded. The as-synthesized 10 g of IO NPs was dispersed in 500 mL DI water and stored for later amine functionalization.
Amine-functionalization of IO NPs: Aqueous APTES coating was employed to introduce amine groups on the surface of as-synthesized IO NPs by modifying the previously described procedures. 59.2 mL APTES was mixed with 560 mL DI water and 26.72 mL glacial acetic acid solution by magnetic stirring. After 1 hour of acid catalysis, the pH of the activated APTES solution (pH-4) was raised to 8 by adding 2.5 N NaOH solution, followed by addition of DI water and 500 mL of as-synthesized IO NPs solution (10 g IO) to reach a total volume of 2 L. After 24 hour heating at 65° C. in a water bath, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and continued to be stirred magnetically for another 24 hours. The amine-functionalized IO NPs were then separated with a 0.5 T magnet and washed twice with DI water. Since the magnetophoretic mobility of magnetic nanoparticles decays rapidly as the distance from magnet surface increases, the 0.5 T permanent magnet was sealed in a plastic bag and placed in the middle of the reactor to facilitate magnetic separation. Then, the IO NPs were dispersed in 200 mL DI water, and the pH of the solution was adjusted to 4.5 by adding 1 N HCl, followed by probe sonication for 20 minutes per 35 mL of the solution with a Branson tapered microtip. The dispersed IO NPs were then centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes to remove large clusters. The amine-functionalized IO NPs in the supernatant were collected and ready for later grafting with poly(AMPS-co-AA) polymer. The yield of amine-functionalized IO NPs was 70-80%.
Grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA) to amine-functionalized IO NPs: Poly(AMPS-co-AA) was first dissolved in DI water and 2.5 N NaOH to reach a pH of 4.7 with polymer concentration of 70 mg/mL, followed by activation of carboxylate groups with EDC (equimolar to PAA) at room temperature. After 10 minutes of EDC activation, an equal volume of 14 mg/mL amine-functionalized IO NPs were added to the activated polymer solution drop-wise under vigorous magnetic stirring. After 5 minutes of reaction, a 30% NaCl stock solution was added to the reaction mixture drop-wise to reach a final salinity of 3% to attempt to screen charges on the surface to raise incorporation of polyelectrolyte. The pH was adjusted to 4.7, and the reaction was continued for overnight at room temperature under constant stirring. The polymer-coated IO NPs were separated by centrifugation at 12,000 g and washed with DI water twice to remove excess reactants. The washed IO NPs were dispersed in DI water with probe sonication at ˜2% w/v IO, followed by centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes to remove large clusters. Briefly, (i) the concentration of reactants is lower (70% of previously reported procedures), (ii) poly(AMPS-co-AA) was firstly activated with EDC at pH 4.7 and then followed by drop-wise addition of amine-functionalized IO NPs instead of adding EDC after mixing poly(AMPS-co-AA) and amine-functionalized IO NPs at pH 6, and (iii) NaCl solution was added after mixing poly(AMPS-co-AA) and amine-functionalized IO NPs instead of adding to poly(AMPS-co-AA) solution first.
Polymer desorption tests were performed on selected poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs, following the earlier described procedures. Organic content before and after desorption test was measured with TGA to evaluate the amount of polymer permanently grafted on IO NPs.
Emulsion tests of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs: Aqueous dispersions of 0.1% wt. IO NPs were prepared by dilution of concentrated IO NPs stock solution and concentrated brines with DI water to the desired concentration. Emulsions of equal volumes of purified dodecane and IO NP dispersion were prepared in glass vials and emulsified using an Ultra Turrax T25 homogenizer with a N8G 8 mm dispersing head operating at 13,500 rpm for 2 minutes. Emulsion type was identified by a “drop” test. Briefly, a drop of emulsion was added separately to a small volume of dodecane and water/brine, respectively. An emulsion that dispersed in aqueous phase but not in organic phase was assessed as o/w emulsion and vice versa. Droplet size distribution of selected emulsions was collected by light diffraction of diluted emulsions with its continuous phase using a Malvern Mastersizer S laser diffraction system (commercially available from Malvern Instruments).
Adsorption tests of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs on silica microsphere, washed 8 μm silica microsphere as mentioned earlier were used as adsorbent. The drying process may be conducted at low temperature (˜below 200° C.) to avoid dehydroxylation of the silica surface. 2 mL of aqueous dispersions of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs in standard API brine was added to 1 g of 8 μm silica microsphere in a glass vial. The initial concentrations of feed IO NPs ranged from 0.03 mg/mL to 2 mg/mL. The glass vials were then sealed and shaken horizontally for several hours at room temperature on a LW Scientific Model 2100A Lab Rotator at 220 rpm. The mixture was then left undisturbed to have the 8 μm silica adsorbent sediment under gravitational field. The concentration of the IO NPs in the supernatant was measured by UV-vis spectrometer at 300 nm. Dilution of the samples with standard API brine was conducted whenever necessary so that the absorbance was below 2. The specific adsorption and monolayer coverage of IO NPs on silica adsorbent was calculated based on the concentration difference of the IO NP dispersions before and after adsorption.
Dynamic light scattering (“DLS”) studies were performed to measure the volume-averaged hydrodynamic size of IO NPs in DI water and standard API brine with a Brookhaven ZetaPlus system (Brookhaven Instruments Co.) at a measurement angle of 90°. The autocorrelation functions were fitted with the CONTIN algorithm to extract the diffusion coefficient, and further converted to hydrodynamic size using a Stokes-Einstein equation. All measurements were collected over a 2 minute period at a count rate ˜500 kcps with at least three measurements collected for each sample.
All electrophoretic mobility and zeta potential measurements were performed with IO NP concentration of 0.02 mg/mL-0.1 mg/mL using a Brookhaven ZetaPlus zeta potential analyzer (Brookhaven Instruments Co.). Zeta potential measurements were conducted in 10 mM KCl solution at pH 6 for amine-functionalized IO NPs and pH 8 for poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs. A Smoluchowski model was used to convert measured electrophoretic mobility to zeta potential. The reported zeta potential values are an average of at least 6 measurements with each of the measurement collected for 30 electrode cycles. The Smoluchowski model is applicable when the size of the particle is much larger than the Debye length of the solution (˜3 nm for 10 mM KCl), which is always satisfied for the measurements in this study. Electrophoretic mobility measurements were conducted in NaCl solution and combined NaCl and CaCl2 solution at pH 8 following the same procedures when the ionic strength of the solution is below or equal to 20 mM. Measurements at higher ionic strength were conducted at 3 V and 20 Hz frequency to minimize the polarization effects. Change of new sample after each run and cleaning of electrode was performed whenever necessary.
Thermogravimetric Analysis (“TGA”) was used to measure the organic content of the IO NPs after APTES functionalization and poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafting. Measurements were conducted using a Mettler-Toledo TGA/SDTA851e instrument under air at a heating rate of 20° C./min from 25 to 800° C. The percentage loss of weight was reported as the mass fraction of organic coating on the iron oxide.
Gel Permeation Column Chromatography (“GPC”) was used to measure the molecular weight and polydispersity index of the 1:1, 3:1, 5:1, 10:1, and 20:1 poly(AMPS-co-AA). Measurements were conducted using Viscotek GPC water columns, attached to a Water's 1515 isocratic HPLC pump, and a Water's 2414 refractive index detector and run against a PSS standard. The poly(AMPS-co-AA) polymers were dissolved in a 3:1 water:acetonitrile solution at a polymer concentration of 4 mg/ml; the GPC columns was also purged with the 3:1 water: acetonitrile solution prior to injection, and run at a rate of 1.0 ml/min.
Characterization and design principle of poly(AMPS-co-AA): A series of random copolymers of AMPS and AA with monomer feed ratios ranging from 1:1 to 20:1 were synthesized by aqueous free radical polymerization and characterized using NMR (see
As seen in Table 15, the molecular weights (“MWs”) and polydispersity indexes (“PDI”) of the various poly(AMPS-co-AA) copolymers were determined using GPC traces, and showed similar values regardless of the initial monomer feed ratio. Table 15 shows NMR and GPC data of poly(AMPS-co-AA) with monomer feed ratios of AMPS to AA ranging from 1:1 to 20:1. This similarity is unexpected considering the wide distribution of MWs from free radical polymerization. Referring to
Grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA) copolymers onto IO NPs: The grafting of polymeric stabilizers to colloids may be performed either using a “grafting to” or “grafting from” technique. Although the “grafting from” approach typically provides higher grafting densities than the “grafting to” approach, the need (1) to tether initiators to the surfaces of the NPs, (2) for exogenous catalysts, (3) for expensive starting materials, and (4) to provide an inert atmosphere make the “grafting from” approach more difficult for industrial large-scale production. Due to these difficulties, the synthesized poly(AMPS-co-AA) random copolymers were covalently attached to the IO NPs using a “grafting to” approach, which allowed for the direct attachment of pre-synthesized poly(AMPS-co-AA) polymers under ambient conditions. In addition to the simplistic experimental setup, the polymers' MWs and PDIs could be obtained prior to the grafting process.
In a process similar to the schematically shown in
The use of adding NaCl after adding the amine-functionalized IO NPs is a slight change from previously utilized processes. This step was performed because the “grafting to” technique is, in essence, a self-limiting process in that the free polymer chains to be grafted must overcome the electrostatic or steric repulsion forces exerted by the existing polymer layer on the surface of the NP. Covalent tethering of polymer from solution or melt was theoretically predicted to have different kinetic regimes. Briefly, at the beginning, the free polymers are able to quickly graft to solid surfaces because they are only limited by diffusion through the solvent. As more polymers are tethered, the accumulated polymers hinder further grafting by exerting steric repulsion. As shown in Table 16, in the case of grafting polyelectrolytes to oppositely charged surfaces, the accumulated polyelectrolyte will lead to charge inversion, as demonstrated by the inversion of zeta potential from +30 mV to −35-−45 mV, and the electrostatic repulsion between like-charged polymer chains will further impede covalent tethering. The covalent grafting procedure was therefore conducted in the presence of NaCl after charge inversion to facilitate further grafting by screening like charges. This technique of using electrolytes to increase the amount of polyelectrolytes attached on oppositely charged surfaces is well known in the art. Table 16 provides a summary of colloidal properties of amine-functionalized IO NPs and poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs.
Electrosteric stabilization of poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs: As indicated in Table 16, the successful grafting of the poly(AMPS-co-AA) was demonstrated using both zeta potential and TGA. As indicated in
As seen in
Referring to Table 16 and
The stability of the IO NPs with all of the various grafted copolymers, suggests that the polymer chains remain well-solvated, consistent with the solubility data for the pure polymer, and provide electrosteric stabilization. As discussed previously, the total potential is given by the sum of van der Waals attraction, electrical double layer (“EDL”) interactions, and electrosteric stabilization produced by the grafted polymer. At low salinities where the extended electric double layer exerts a long-range repulsion force, small ligands such as citrate or surfactant bilayers are widely used to provide electrostatic stabilization over a certain pH range. However, at high salinities (≧1 M ionic strength), the Debye length drops to 0.3 nm, and the electrostatic repulsion becomes insufficient to overcome the attraction forces. For this reason, the polymeric stabilizers were required to provide electrosteric stabilization via a local osmotic pressure and entropic elastic repulsion force. The strength of steric stabilization depends on the size of the particles, volume fraction of polymer, the thickness of the polymer layer, and the Flory-Huggins parameter of the polymer-solvent system, which is a measure of the relative strength of segment-segment, segment-solvent interaction, and determines the conformation of the polymer chain in the solvent.
Electrophoretic mobility of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs: The conformation of charged polyelectrolytes on the surface plays an important role in colloidal stability. Referring to
Referring to
Since unreacted carboxylate groups on the IO NP surface complexes strongly with Ca2+, poly(AMPS-co-AA) coatings designed in accordance with aspects of the present invention have a lower AA fraction than commercially available poly(AMPS-co-AA). However, the ionic strength still has a large effect on the mobility of the copolymer coatings. Generally, at low salinities, the conformation of polymeric brush is determined by the osmotic pressure, excluded volume interaction, and long-range electrostatic interaction, which in many ways is analogous to pure polyelectrolytes. The mobile counterions in the highly charged polyelectrolyte layer will swell the brush by their osmotic pressure. When the salinities in solution exceed the concentration of counterions in the polymer brush, the “salted brush regime” is observed. The scaling laws of brush thickness in this regime are similar to those of uncharged polymeric brushes. The contraction of brush thickness upon adding electrolytes was observed with DLS in various systems, including polymethacrylic acid grafted polystyrene-poly(butyl acrylate) NPs, and PAA grafted polystyrene particle. As seen from
Interfacial activity of poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs. In addition to polymer conformation, the phase behavior and the activity of the poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs at the oil/water interface can provide valuable information about the colloidal interactions between the NPs and various surfaces/interfaces. In order to study this behavior, emulsions of aqueous dispersions of poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO in DI water and dodecane were prepared using a 1:1 volume ratio. As seen in
Nanoparticles can be irreversibly adsorbed at liquid interfaces and stabilizes emulsions of oil and water, or foams of air and water. The formation and stabilization of the so-called “Pickering emulsions” depend crucially on the hydrophobicity of the particles at interfaces. Silica nanoparticles with tuned hydrophobicity by controlling the coverage of surface silanol groups were shown to stabilize air/water foams, CO2/water foams and oil/water emulsions. For relatively hydrophilic silica nanoparticles, only aqueous dispersions were formed. Considering the highly charged polymer coating in DI water as demonstrated by the −3.55×10−8 m2/(V s) electrophoretic mobility (see
Adsorption of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs on silica: The batch adsorption technique allowed for rapid, high throughput measurement of equilibrium NP adsorption. As indicated in Table 18, the batch adsorption of IO NPs on 8 μm clean silica microspheres (specific surface area of 0.5825 m2/g as measured by BET via N2 adsorption) in standard API brine was visually observed and quantified based on the concentration difference of IO NP dispersions before and after adsorption equilibrium using UV-vis spectroscopy.
Adsorption of these IO NPs follows Langmuir adsorption isotherm behavior. As the composition ratio of poly(AMPS-co-AA) copolymer coating increases from 1:1 to 3:1, both the specific adsorption and percent monolayer coverage decreased dramatically by one order of magnitude, reflecting the increase in the AMPS stabilizer group (see Table 18). A further enhancement of the AMPS:AA ratio up to 20:1 did not further lower adsorption relative to the 3:1 ratio. There are few reports of such low adsorption values of IO NPs in dispersions consisting of both high ionic strengths (2.04 M) and divalent ion concentration (180 mM Ca2+). The low adsorption of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs is likely due to the negatively charged, extended, and well-solvated polymer chains on the NP surfaces that provide sufficient electrosteric repulsion to overcome the attractive forces between IO NPs and silica microspheres.
It remains unknown why the copolymers with the highest AMPS fractions did not reduce the adsorption relative to the 3:1 sample. Mechanistically, the adsorption of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs in standard API brine is due to: (i) screening of surface charge thus reducing electrostatic repulsion, (ii) promoting hydrophobicity of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs and silica adsorbent, as suggested by the aforementioned increased interfacial activity of IO NPs in standard API brine (see
In summary, a series of poly(AMPS-co-AA) polymers with varying AMPS:AA ratios ranging from 1:1 to 20:1 were successfully “grafted to” amine-functionalized IO NPs. Permanent grafting was confirmed by a polymer desorption test that indicated a similar organic content before and after the polymer desorption test. Interestingly, all of the poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs in this series form stable dispersions in standard API brine, which was a result of a sufficient number of anchor and stabilizer groups. It can be concluded that a high fraction of stabilizer AMPS (3:1 or greater) ensures good colloidal stability in high salinity brine, while even a relatively small number of AA anchoring groups (ratio up to 20:1) is sufficient for permanent grafting of polymer chains to the IO NP surfaces. The colloidal stability in standard API brine makes such particles suitable to withstand harsh hydrocarbon reservoir conditions. Similarly, the DLS data indicated bridging of multiple IO NP cores was minimized by decreasing the fraction of AA anchoring group on the poly(AMPS-co-AA). Based on DLS and electrophoretic mobility tests, it was determined that the poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs remained negatively charged and extended in standard API brine, leading to colloidal stability and low adsorption on silica, which facilitated transport through standard API brine saturated columns. Although a large decrease in retention and lower specific adsorption was seen varying the AMPS to AA ratio from 1:1 to 3:1, a further increase of AMPS fraction did not reduce specific adsorption. This plateau in adsorption may be due to the high concentration of Ca2+ ions in standard API brine that bridge anions on the IO NPs to the anionic silica surface and the increased hydrophobicity of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs in standard API brine.
Aspects of the present invention as hereinafter disclosed provide for low adsorption of iron oxide nanoparticles using an acid catalyzed heat driven amidation technique, improving mobility in porous media (e.g., subsurface geological environments).
Grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA) copolymers onto IO NPs via EDC catalyzed amidation reaction and adsorption test: As previously disclosed, in an EDC catalyzed grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA) to amine-functionalized IO NPs, the carboxylate anchoring groups on the copolymers were activated using EDC. The amine-functionalized IO NPs were then added so that the carboxylate groups on the polymer could react with the amine groups on the IO NP surfaces and form amide bonds. To increase polymer uptake, sodium chloride (“NaCl”) was added to the solution to screen the electrostatic repulsion. The simplicity of the grafting reaction on pre-synthesized amine functionalized IO NPs allowed for high throughput and rapid screening of the different polymeric coatings procedures. However, as previously disclosed, despite varying reaction conditions, i.e., NaCl, poly(AMPS-co-AA), and amine-functionalized IO NPs concentrations, only negligible changes in batch adsorption tests using silica microspheres was evident.
Referring to Table 19, in addition to varying the NaCl, poly(AMPS-co-AA), and APTES IO NPs concentrations, the amount of EDC (5× or ⅕×) was also varied in order to tune the amount of grafted polymer stabilizer.
For example, thermogravimetric analysis (“TGA”) data showed by increasing the amount of EDC (by 5×) the organic content slightly increased from 15% to 17% and remained stable in API at 90° C., while for the ⅕×EDC, the organic content decreased to 11%, and precipitated in standard API brine at room temperature. Referring to
Acid catalyzed heat driven grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA) copolymers onto IO NPs: Based on these results, amidation reactions were performed using only heat to drive the reaction, as shown with the schematic in
However, it is possible that during this “grafting to” process that the negatively charged polymer chains may also adsorb to positively charged amine-functionalized IO NPs via electrostatic attraction. To confirm the successful grafting of poly(AMPS-co-AA) to the IO NP surface, the poly(AMPS-co-AA) was subjected to a dilution test (final concentration=0.01% w/v IO) in 1 M NaCl followed by TGA analysis, dynamic light scattering (“DLS”), and an standard API brine stability test. As seen in Table 20, the total organic content for both the before and after the desorption test cases remained similar, indicating negligible loss of the poly(AMPS-co-AA). In addition to TGA analyses, the hydrodynamic sizes (as indicated in Table 20 and
Interfacial activity of poly (AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs: The phase behavior and the activity of the poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs at an oil/water interface can also provide valuable information about colloidal interactions between the NPs and various surfaces/interfaces. Therefore, an emulsion test was performed using synthetic seawater to see what effect residual EDC plays on hydrophobicity. Emulsions of aqueous dispersions of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO in synthetic seawater and dodecane were prepared using a 1:1 volume ratio. As seen in
Adsorption of poly(AMPS-co-AA)-grafted IO NPs on silica: Referring to
Referring to Table 21, in addition to visual observations, quantitative data was obtained using two separate acid catalyzed heat driven amidation grafting reactions (identified as Trials 1 and 2 in Table 21) to display reproducibility. As seen in Table 21, at the highest IO concentration (1% w/v), the specific adsorption of the poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs at RT (no EDC) was found to be 0.092 (Trial 1) and 0.133 (Trial 2) mg-IO/m2, which corresponds to very low NP monolayer coverages of 0.021% and 0.031%, respectively. In addition to this low adsorption, the similar values for both Trials 1 and 2 demonstrate the reproducibility. In contrast, when residual EDC was added at a level of mass ratio EDC:IO=1, the IO NP sample resulted in 100% adsorption in standard API brine at all concentrations up to 0.1%. Additionally, the specific adsorption of EDC catalyzed poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs were also listed for comparison. Clearly, the specific adsorption of heat driven poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs shows ˜1 order of magnitude decrease when compared to the EDC catalyzed amidation reaction.
In the above equations, kdes/kads is the ratio of the rate of desorption to the rate of adsorption (m−3), Mp is the mass of one NP (g), Ac is the adsorption capacity on the collector surface (g IO/g silica), and ρa is the specific surface area of silica (m2/(g silica)). Using the specific surface area of the silica, Ac can be converted to (mg IO)/(m2 silica). The specific adsorption capacity Ac can then be calculated (see
In summary, the poly(AMPS-co-AA) grafted IO NPs formed by acid-catalyzed heat driven amidation as previously disclosed show decreased retention capacity. Poly(AMPS-co-AA) 3:1 polymer was successfully grafted to an amine-functionalized IO NPs via acid catalyzed heat driven amidation, without the use of an EDC catalyzed reaction. Grafting was confirmed using a polymer desorption test that indicated similar organic contents, hydrodynamic sizes, and colloidal stabilities in standard API brine both before and after the polymer desorption test. The colloidal stability in standard API brine indicates that such particles will withstand harsh hydrocarbon reservoir conditions. In addition to similar stability to that of poly(AMPS-co-AA) IO NPs fabricated using EDC, the use of heat to coat the IO NPs displayed remarkably lower (one order of magnitude) specific adsorption and monolayer formation on silica microspheres, as well as a lower degree of hydrophobicity as demonstrated by emulsion tests.
Ultra-low adsorption on silica microspheres of iron oxide nanoparticles stabilized by poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) grafted via a “grafting through” technique: Utilized was a “grafting through” technique to covalently tether PAMPS to the surfaces of IO NPs. Vinyl groups were covalently attached to the amine-functionalized IO NPs, followed by performing free radical polymerization of AMPS monomers in the presence of the vinyl-coated IO NPs. The mechanism of the “grafting through” technique allows for propagating polymers (e.g., PAMPS) to graft to the vinyl groups on the surfaces of the particles. This was done so that the amount of polymer could effectively be controlled in order to study the adsorption versus polymer content. It was found that ultra-low adsorption using a previously disclosed batch adsorption test could be achieved.
Grafting of acrylic acid to amine-functionalized IO NP (“AA IO NP”):
“Grafting through” of PAMPS onto AA IO NP:
Grafting of acrylic acid to amine-functionalized IO NP (AA IO NP) and “grafting through”: The grafting of AA followed by the grafting of PAMPS can be seen in
Referring to
Batch adsorption of IO NPs: Referring to Table 22, a series of batch adsorption tests of IO NPs with different AMPS loading on silica was conducted at different feed IO concentrations of 0.03, 0.1, and 1 mg/mL in standard API brine. Table 22 shows the results of these tests of adsorption of poly(“AMPS”) grafted IO NPs on 8 μm silica microspheres in standard API brine at pH 8 at different IO concentrations. The specific adsorption of IO NPs on silica was calculated based on the concentration difference of the supernatant phase before and after adsorption equilibration. Clearly, the specific adsorption increased as the equilibrium concentration increased, as predicted by various theoretical adsorption isotherm models. Furthermore, as the AMPS loading on the IO NPs increased (from 2.5 g-8 g AMPS IO NPs), the specific adsorption decreased drastically by one order of magnitude. Further increase of AMPS loading did not decrease the specific adsorption and reached an adsorption plateau.
Referring to Table 23, to further study the effect of the presence of clays which have positively charged edges, crushed Berea sandstone was further employed as the adsorbent in batch adsorption tests. Table 23 shows the results of these tests of adsorption of poly(“AMPS”) grafted IO NPs on crushed Berea in standard API brine at pH 8 at different IO concentrations. Similar to the test results in Table 22, increasing concentration led to higher specific adsorption. Further, it was demonstrated that increasing AMPS ratio was also effective in decreasing adsorption by 75% even when ˜12% clays are present. In general, the interaction between NPs and adsorbent was governed by van der Waals attraction and electrosteric repulsion. High AMPS loading was expected to give higher electrosteric repulsion forces, thus decreasing the adsorption.
Ultra-low adsorption on silica microspheres and crushed Berea sandstone of iron oxide nanoparticles stabilized by poly(3-(Methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt) grafted via a “grafting through” technique: Embodiments use a “grafting through” technique to covalently tether a [3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (“MAPDAH”) inner salt to the surfaces of IO NPs. Vinyl groups were first covalently attached to the amine-functionalized IO NPs, followed by performing free radical polymerization of [3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt monomers in the presence of the methacrylate-coated IO NPs. The mechanism of the “grafting through” technique allows for propagating polymers (poly([3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt) to graft to the vinyl groups on the surfaces of the particles. This was done so that the amount of polymer could effectively be controlled in order to study the adsorption versus polymer content. It was found that ultra-low adsorption using the previously disclosed batch adsorption test could be achieved.
The 3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt is commercially available from Aldrich.
Grafting of methacrylic acid to amine-functionalized IO NPs (“MA IO NPs”). 100 mg (1.16 mmol) methacrylic acid was added to 10 ml DI H2O, and the solution was adjusted to a pH 5.5. While maintaining the pH at ≈5.5, 1.2 equivalent of EDC (1.39 mmol) and sulfo-NHS (1.39 mmol) were added, and the mixture was allowed to react for ˜20 minutes. Afterwards, a solution of IO NPs containing 250 mg was added drop wise to the activated acrylic acid. Once all the IO NPs were added, the pH was adjusted to 7.5 to 8 and was allowed to stir at room temperature for ˜16 hours. Once the reaction was done, the IO was purified via a centrifuge (e.g., 2 times). The final MA IO NP was diluted with DI water and probe sonicated for 1 min/ml.
“Grafting through” of poly([3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt) onto MA IO NPs: In a reaction, either 2.5, 5, 8, or 10 g of 3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt monomer was added to a 15 ml of 2.5 N NaOH solutions, and the pH of the solution was adjusted to 7. Afterwards, the solution was sealed in a round bottom flask and was degassed with N2 for 30 minutes. In a separate flask, 125 mg of MA IO NPs was added, and depending on the concentration, varying amounts of water was added so that the total volume of the final combined reaction solution (3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt+IO solutions) was 25 ml. This solution was then sealed and purged with N2 for 30 minutes. In a third flask was added 13 mg of 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid) along with a stir bar, and was also purged with N2 for 30 minutes. Once all the flasks were properly purged, both the 3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt and MA IO NPs solutions were added to the 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid) containing flask via cannula, and the mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 20 minutes. After polymerization was finished, the composite was removed and divided into 6 separate 50 ml centrifuge tubes and filled with 35 ml of DI water. The mixtures were then homogenized using an IKA Ultra-Turrax T-25 Basic with an 8 mm head operating at 13,500 rpm for 2 minutes. This homogenized solution was then centrifuged at 11,000 rpm for 10 minutes. Afterwards the supernatant (containing free polymer) was either kept for characterization or disposed of. The grafted poly(3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt) to the MA IO NPs (3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt IO NPs) was then suspended in 35 ml of DI H2O, and the above procedure was repeated (e.g., 4 times).
Grafting of methacrylic acid to amine-functionalized IO NPs (“AA IO NPs”) and “grafting through”:
After purification, it was observed that the zwitterionic coated IO NPs were stable in standard API brine at 90° C. for several weeks. The coated nanoparticles, which were adsorbed on colloidal silica and crushed Berea sandstone, are shown in Tables 24 and 25, with adsorption at 0.1 mg/ml concentration.
Table 24 shows the adsorption of poly(3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt) IO nanoclusters on 8 μm colloidal silica microspheres in standard API brine at pH 8 at varying IO concentrations.
Table 25 shows the adsorption of poly(3-(methacryloylamino)propyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt) IO nanoclusters on crushed Berea sandstone in standard API brine at pH 8 at varying IO concentrations.
Oil/water emulsions stabilized with polymer-grafted iron oxide particles: The following discloses the stabilization of oil-in-water emulsions with poly(oligo(ethyleneoxide)monomethyl ether methacrylate) grafted iron oxide particle clusters (“IO-POEOMA”) at ultra-low concentrations. The utilization of different aqueous phases with varying salinities shows the salt tolerance of the POEOMA polymer.
Synthetic seawater (“SSW”) (Cat. No. 8363-5, Lot 1306873, ASTM D1141) was purchased from Ricca Chemical Company. Dodecane (99%, Acros Organics) was purified with basic alumina prior to use. Deionized (“DI”) water (Nanopure II, Barnstead, Dubuque, Iowa) was used for all experiments. Four different IO-POEOMA materials were tested and are labeled according to the grafting density followed by the molecular weight of the polymer (e.g., “LH” represents Low grafting density and High molecular weight).
Dodecane-aqueous phase (SSW or DI water) interfacial tension was determined using axisymmetric drop shape analysis of a pendant droplet containing a known concentration of polymer-grafted nanoparticles (“IO-POEOMA”). The droplet was held for 10 to 20 minutes to equilibrate with an excess dodecane phase. The pendant drop was illuminated with a monochromatic light source and the digital images were recorded. The droplet shape profile was fitted according to the Young/Laplace equation with a software package (CAM200, KSV Ltd., Finland). The mean interfacial tension was taken of 10 measurements that were acquired 10 seconds apart, and the standard deviation of the measurements was typically less than 1% of the mean.
Emulsions were prepared by combining DI water, SSW, standard API brine, or 200% standard API brine, IO-POEOMA, and dodecane to a total volume of 10 mL in a 20 mL glass vial and immediately homogenized with an IKA Ultra-Turrax T-25 Basic with an 8 mm head operating at 13,500 rpm for 2 minutes at room temperature. The sample was immediately poured into a capped 16 mm×125 mm glass test tube. The IO-POEOMA originate in the aqueous phase and their volume is treated as part of the aqueous phase volume. The IO-POEOMA concentrations are given as mass percent per total sample volume (% w/v). Water fraction (“φw”), 0.5 for all emulsions is given as the proportion of aqueous phase to the total sample volume Immediately after homogenization, the emulsion conductivity was determined using a Cole-Parmer EC conductivity meter with a Pt/Pt black electrode. The emulsion type was also confirmed using the “drop” test.
Emulsion stability to creaming was determined by monitoring the creaming front position as a function of time with a Nikon D5100 with Phottix TR-90 remote controller after transferring the emulsion to a capped 16 mm×125 mm glass test tube. The digital photos were analyzed with ImageJ software (US National Institutes of Health). The D[4,3] and uniformity (“U”) were calculated from the droplet size distributions with a Malvern Mastersizer S light diffraction instrument equipped with a 15 mL stirred optical cell initially, at 1 hour, and 24 hours after homogenization. Optical microscopy was performed with a Nikon Eclipse ME600 light microscope equipped with a Photometrics CoolSnap digital camera. On a glass microscope slide, 10 μL of emulsion were diluted with 20 μL of SSW, to dilute droplets for clarity while minimizing the disruption of the emulsion structure.
Polymer-grafted nanoparticles were synthesized via the “grafting through” method and used in 0/W emulsions. Characterization of the four IO-POEOMA nanoparticle materials, by thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic light scattering, revealed 75-89% organic material with 25-11% iron oxide and ˜1 μm diameter. Gel permeation chromatography (data not shown) revealed the molecular weights of the polymer at ˜800 kDa and ˜1000 kDa, labeled low and high in the nomenclature of the IO-POEOMA system. All emulsions made with IO-POEOMA were oil-in-water emulsions as confirmed by conductivity measurements and the drop test. As shown in
The dodecane-SSW interfacial tensions of pre-equilibrated phases are shown in
Emulsion morphology can be explored through drop sizes and creaming rates of those droplets. All emulsions were oil-in-water as observed via conductivity measurements (not shown) and the “drop” test observations. Iron oxide nanoparticle clusters without the polymer grafted to it do not stabilize emulsions nor lower IFT at 1% wt. thus they are not good emulsifiers. The low and high molecular weight polymers alone do lower IFT and stabilize emulsions but only at high concentrations, 1% wt. The oil drop sizes of the different emulsions can be seen in Table 22. The HH, LH, and HL IO-POEOMA materials have relatively small drop diameters, ˜50 μm, with little to no drop coalescence over 24 hours. The LL IO-POEOMA material created drops with a diameter ˜120 μm with little to no drop coalescence over 24 hours. All IO-POEOMA materials create viscous emulsions stable to drop coalescence and coarsening.
The emulsion stability to creaming can also be seen in Table 24. The stability of the emulsions in DI water (“DIW”) and SSW are similar indicating the polymer's ability to tolerate salts. At the specified concentrations, IO-POEOMA materials create emulsions that are relatively stable to drop creaming on the short time scale, 5 minutes to an hour. However, it is possible to create emulsions with higher IO-POEOMA concentrations that do not have any drop creaming, as seen for the emulsion made with HL IO-POEOMA at 0.4% wt. Typically published polymer grafted nanoparticle systems require 1% wt. or more material to form emulsions stable to creaming; embodiments of the present invention require a factor less material at 0.4% wt. For all emulsions, after the initial creaming, the emulsion heights stabilized. It is worth noting that all of the IO-POEOMA material was involved in the emulsion, and the lower aqueous phase was always clear and void of IO-POEOMA. No upper oil layer was seen in the emulsions till the emulsion completely phase separated.
Based on emulsion stability and ability to reduce IFT, the four different IO-POEOMA materials performance followed the trend of HH>LH>HL>LL, where HH performed the best. Similar trends were seen with efficiency in IFT reduction and emulsion stability in that the molecular weight of the polymer chains was more beneficial to performance than the grafting density of those chains. This definite trend has never been stated before for POEOMA grafted particles.
Utilizing the “grafting through” method of covalent attachment of POEOMA to the iron oxide clusters, dodecane-in-synthetic seawater emulsions were stabilized with as little as 0.003% wt. poly(oligo(ethyleneoxide)monomethyl ether methacrylate) (“POEOMA”) grafted iron oxide nanoparticle clusters. Characterization of the NP+polymer emulsifier revealed ˜85% organic material to ˜15% iron oxide cluster core with polymer chain lengths of ˜800 kDa. In 1:1 dodecane: SSW emulsions, the polymer grafted NPs are surface active, prevent coalescence of the oil drops, and stay in the emulsion phase, with a clear aqueous phase below. IFT reduction between SSW and dodecane was reduced to 17 mN/m from 52 mN/m with as little as 0.003% wt. (IO-POEOMA). For both emulsion stability to creaming and coalescence, and IFT reduction, the molecular weight of the salt-tolerant POEOMA polymer was more influential than grafting density resulting in the use of less material for equivalent effectiveness. The longer polymer chains were able to lower IFT, stabilize the oil-water interface, and increase viscosity of the continuous phase of emulsions.
It will be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention. The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein. Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.
The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.
As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.
The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
Claims
1. A method for assaying a geological structure comprising:
- injecting a magnetic nanoparticle dispersion into the geological structure, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion comprises one or more polymers grafted to at least a surface of one or more magnetic nanoparticles, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion is suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability in the geological structure for a period of at least several days;
- generating a magnetic field in the geological structure with a magnetic probe; and
- detecting a magnetic signal produced from an interaction of the magnetic field and the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion injected into the geological structure.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetic nanoparticles comprise a magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle, a magnetic metal nanoparticle, or both.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle comprises a metal oxide comprising Zn, Cr, Co, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, N, Pr, Nd, In, Pr, Sm, Tb, or Tm.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the magnetic metal oxide nanoparticle comprises iron oxide, nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, magnetite, or ferrites.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the geological structure comprises a hydrocarbon deposit.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle dispersion is suitable for maintaining a colloidal stability in an environment comprising a standard API brine.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the colloidal stability is for about 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks, 11 weeks, 12 weeks, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, 15 weeks, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, or more.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetic nanoparticles comprise iron oxide, iron, cobalt, magnetite, hematite, ferrites selected from nickel ferrite, aluminum ferrite, manganese ferrite, zinc ferrite, and cobalt ferrite, or combinations thereof.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more magnetic nanoparticles comprise one or more amine-functional groups.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more polymers comprise a random copolymer, wherein one member of the random copolymer is an acrylic acid monomer.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more polymers comprise a first monomer comprising an anchoring group and a second monomer comprising a stabilizing group.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the anchoring group is selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 4-vinylbenzoic acid, 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate and N-acryloylalanine, and a combination thereof.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the stabilizing group is selected from the group consisting of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonate, vinylsulfonate, 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate, 3-[2-(N-methylacrylamido)-ethyldimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, 3-[N-(2-methacroyloyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonio]propanesulfonate, and 3-(N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylammonio) propanesulfonate, sulfonate polymers, zwitterionic polymers, sulfobetaine zwitterionic polymers, and carboxybetaine zwitterionic polymers.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein a ratio of the stabilizing group to the anchoring group comprises between about 14% and 95%.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more polymers comprise a first monomer comprising a sulfonate group and a second monomer comprising an acrylate group.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more polymers comprise a poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the poly(acrylamido methyl propane sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) polymer has a ratio of about 3:1 of 2-acrylanmido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid to acrylic acid groups.
18-43. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 25, 2013
Publication Date: Sep 24, 2015
Patent Grant number: 9983327
Inventors: Keith P. Johnston (Austin, TX), Christopher W. Bielawski (Austin, TX), Hitesh G. Bagaria (Austin, TX), Ki Youl Yoon (Austin, TX), Bethany M. Neilson (Austin, TX), Chun Huh (Austin, TX), Steven L. Bryant (Austin, TX), Edward Lee Foster (Austin, TX), Zheng Xue (Austin, TX), Lynn Michelle Foster (Austin, TX)
Application Number: 14/436,325
